''Armeria pungens'', common name spiny thrift, is a rare plant of the genus ''

Armeria ''Armeria'' is a genus of flowering plants. These plants are sometimes known as "lady's cushion", "thrift", or "sea pink" (the latter because as they are often found on coastlines). The genus counts over a hundred species, mostly native to the ...

'' of the family

Plumbaginaceae Plumbaginaceae is a family of flowering plants, with a cosmopolitan distribution. The family is sometimes referred to as the leadwort family or the plumbago family. Most species in this family are perennial herbaceous plants, but a few grow ...

Description

''Armeria pungens'' grows in small shrubs, reaching heights of about . The stems are lignified at the base, robust, highly branched. Leaves are glabrous, linear to lanceolate, pointed, about long and about wide. Flower heads are pale pink, gathered in globose inflorescences at the top of long

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence. Such inflorescences are described as ''pedicellate''. Description Pedicel refers to a structure connecting a single flower to its inflorescence. In the absenc ...

. Flowering period extends from May through July.

Distribution

This plant is endemic to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

(

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

( Corsica),

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Habitat

This small shrub grows in coastal sand-dunes and beaches, at an elevation of about above sea level.

Synonyms

* ''Armeria fasciculata'' var. ''intermedia''

Daveau Jules Alexandre Daveau (29 February 1852, Argenteuil – 24 August 1929) was a French botanist known for his investigations of Portuguese flora. As a teenager he began work as an apprentice gardener at the Muséum national d'histoire naturell ...

* ''Armeria fasciculata'' var. ''pungens'' ( Link) Arcang. * ''Armeria fasciculata'' ( Vent.)

Willd. Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was al ...

* ''Armeria maritima'' subsp. ''pungens'' (Link)

Bernis Bernis (; oc, Berniç) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Population See also * Costières de Nîmes AOC * Communes of the Gard department This is a list of the 351 communes of the Gard department of France. The comm ...

* ''Reverchonia fasciculata'' (Vent.)

Gand. Abbé Jean Michel Gandoger (10 May 1850 – 4 October 1926), was a French botanist and mycologist. He was born in Arnas, Rhône, Arnas, the son of a wealthy vineyard owner in the Beaujolais region. Although he took holy orders at the age of 26, he ...

* ''Reverchonia pungens'' (Link) Gand. * ''Statice fasciculata'' var. ''pungens'' (Link) Samp. * ''Statice fasciculata'' Vent.

Gallery

File:Flowers at Vignola Mare, Sardinia, Italy.jpg, ''Armeria pungens'' in

References

* Pignatti S. 1982 - Flora d'Italia. Bologna – Vol. II, pag, 301 * Piñeiro R, Fuertes Aguilar J, Munt DD, Nieto Feliner G. -
Atlantic-Mediterranean disjunction in the sand-dune shrub Armeria pungens (Plumbaginaceae) - Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, CSIC

Anthos

External links

*

pungens {{Caryophyllales-stub