Armeria maritima

Armeria maritima
Photo Credit Lisa Hintz

Armeria maritima
Photo Credit Lisa Hintz

First overview block: Scientific Name, Synonyms, Family, English Names, Other Names

Taxonomy

• Kingdom Plantae – Plants
• Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
• Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
• Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
• Class Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
• Order: Caryophyllales
• Family: Plumbaginaceae
• Genus: Armeria
• Species: A. maritima

Description

General: Scapose, perennial herbs, the 1-several scapes glabrous, 1-5 dm. tall. Leaves: Leaves all basal, in dense tufts, narrowly linear, tough and persistent, 5-10 cm. long and 1-3 mm. broad, glabrous to puberulent. Flowers: Flowers in dense, head-like clusters subtended by purplish involucral bracts, 1.5-3 cm. broad, terminal on the scapes; flowers in clusters of 3 on short pedicels, subtended by 2 transparent bracts; calyx 5-lobed, funnel-shaped, dry and chaffy, 10-nerved, 5-6 mm. long; corolla 5-lobed nearly to the base, pinkish or purplish; stamens 5, opposite the corolla lobes; styles 5, distinct. Fruit: Fruit achene-like.

This plant forms dense tussocks of grayish-green, linear leaves and pubescent flower stems. Up to 12 in. tall, the flower stems terminate in a small, round head of pink to lavender flowers. A low plant with a basal cluster of many narrow leaves and, atop a slender, leafless stalk, a globe of pale lilac flowers, beneath which are several broad, purplish, papery bracts. Tussocks of dried leaves are persistent. It resembles a small onion, but the two families are only related in that they are flowering plants.

References

Seed

Abbreviation: ARMA

Seed sample from: 2011

Average Measurement: 4.9 x 1.2 x 1.2

Measurement Range: L: 4.3 – 5.5, W: 1 – 1.5, D: 1.1 – 1.4

Features

Shape: Seeds narrow at hilum, widening at opposite apex to form a tube shaped opening with five ribs flaring out from the end of the seed. Inside tube structure is five lobed star shaped structure.

Color: Ribs brown, connected with a white transparent membrane. Star shaped structure is tan.

Surface: Seed is longitudinally ribbed, and has a slight sheen.

Latitudinal Cross Section: elliptical

Longitudinal Cross Section: obovate

Basic Explanations and Assumptions:

The dimensions for the seeds are length x width x depth. The location of the hilum is used as the base of the seed, and the length is measured from hilum to the opposite apex. Where a style is present, the length is measured from the hilum to the bottom of the style. Width is measured at a right angle to the length at the widest part. Depth is measured at a right angle to the intersection of height and width lines.

Measurements included are the mean average for each measurement of ten separate seeds.

All measurements in millimeters unless otherwise noted.