|
Round leaved Fluellen |
| This plant is brought to you by one of the project's sponsors: |
 |
| More sponsors are needed for this project [ click here ] | |
|
|
| Nomenclature |
Species name: |
Kickxia spuria (L.) Dumort |
Author(s): |
Carl von Linné;
Sweden, 1707-1778
Barthélemy Charles Joseph Dumortier;
Belgium, 1797-1878
|
General names: |
Round-leaved Fluellen, Round-leaved Cancerwort, Blunt-leaved Fluellen, Female Fluvellen |
Maltese name: |
Xetbet l-art safra |
Plant Family: |
|
Name Derivation: |
Kickxia = Named for Jean Kickx, Sr., (1775-1831) professor of botany, pharmacy and mineralogy and/or his son Jean Kickx (Jr.) (1803-1864). (Latin);
spuria = False, doubtful "spurious" used for a species which is believed to have other names (Latin). |
Synonyms: |
Antirrhinum spuria, Cymbalaria spuria, Elatinoides spuria, Linaria spuria |
Remarks: |
-
|
|
| Botanical Data |
PLANT STRUCTURE: |
Characteristic | Growth Form | Branching | Surface |
Description | Prostrate (Procumbent) : Laying and trailing along the ground without rising up. | Basal Branching : Branches are mostly present at the basal part of the stem. | Villous : Bearing long and soft hairs often shaggy. |
General
Picture |  |  |  |
|
LEAVES: |
Characteristic | Arrangement | Attachment | Venation |
Description | Alternate : Growing at different positions along the stem axis. | Stalked / Petiolate : Hanging out by a slender leaf-stalk. | Pinnate venation : Lateral veins which diverge from the midrib towards the leaf marhins. |
General
Picture |  |  |  |
| |
Characteristic | Leaf Shape | Leaf Margin | Remarks |
Description | Ovate : Oval shape, similar to an egg shape thus having a fairly broad centre and rounded ends. | Entire : Smooth margin without indentations, lobes or any projections. | Leaf Texture Due to the numerous villous hairs, the leaves are very soft when touched. |
General
Picture |  |  |  |
|
FLOWERS: |
Characteristic | Colour | Basic Flower Type | No. of Petals | No. of Sepals |
Description | Yellow and deep purple | Personate : Flowers composed of 2 lips with the lower one having a rounded projection known as a palate. | 2 Upper and lower lip-like petals resting on each other. | 5 |
General
Picture | |  | | |
| |
Characteristic | Inflorescence | Description | Ovary | Stamens |
Description | Unilateral Raceme : Like a raceme (with stalked flowers along stem), but flowers project from only one side of the stem. | The flower consists of a tube with 2 lip-like petals at one end and a closed narrow tube (called the spur) at the other. The upper lip has 2 lobes and is deep purple, while the lower lip is bright yellow and has 3 lobes. Inside there are the 4 stamens and pistil very close to each other. | Superior : Ovary situated above the flower parts (the calyx, corolla, and androecium). In other words, these are attached below the ovary. | 4, Didynamous : Having one pair of stamen longer than the other pair. Often the stamens of the pair are very close to each other and seems to be fused as a single unit (connate). |
General
Picture |  | |  |  |
| |
Characteristic | Scent | Average Flower Size | Pollen Colour | Other Notes |
Description | None or very faint | 4mm x 4mm x 12 mm (Length x Breadth x Depth including spur). | White | - |
|
SEEDS: |
Characteristic | No. Per Fruit | Shape | Size | Colour |
Description | 16-20 | Irregular cylindrical or chunky shape (Seed coat possess several ridges). | 1mm | Dark Brown |
General
Picture | | | | |
|
FRUIT AND OTHER BOTANICAL DATA: |
Characteristic | Fruit Type | Colour of Fruit | Subterranean Parts | Other Notes |
Description | Indehiscent Poricidal Capsule : A non-splitting fruit capsule which usually stores a large number of tiny seeds which escape through small pores or slits in the walls of the fruit. | Beige | Taproot : A rooting system where there is the main descending root of a plant having a single dominant large structure from which a network of smaller and long roots emerge. | - |
General
Picture |  | |  | |
|
|
| Plant Description |
Life Cycle: | Annual |
Habitat: | Valleys, arable land, field margins and lanes. |
Frequency: | Common |
Sources in Malta: | Frequent plant, found at Chadwick Lakes (under one of the bridges), and nearby fields. Also found in fields and waysides in Gnejna and Dwejra (Malta). |
Plant Height: | 20-50cm. |
| Jun - Sep |
Poison: | Not Poisonous |
This annual plant is seen in Malta at the beginning of Summer in arable fields and valleys. It is an decumbent, branching plant, with
stems reaching about 40cm in length or more. Most of the plant is covered with soft hair. The stem have many rounded leaves stacked over each other, spaced from each other by a short distance and gradually decreasing in size up the stem.
The leaves are alternate (the lower ones nearly opposite), and at first sight they look to be sessile but on a closer examination they reveal to have a short petiole. Leaves are generally broad oval - nearly circular, while the cauline leaves tend to have a more lanceolate shape. Leaf outline is generally entire. The most striking characteristic of the leaves is the soft and smooth (silky) texture. This is due to their numerous, soft, fine, short hairs; described as pubescent. Leaves at the middle part of the stem are generally 48mm long and 38mm wide but size varies - lower leaves can reach up to 70mm in length.
In contrast to the leaves, flowers have a long slender stalklet which grows out from the leaf axils. Usually flowering branches grows out from the leaf axils of the main stem, and each flowering branch give rise to several flowers as a unilateral raceme. The flower is very small and have the typical bi-laterally symmetrical shape of the snapdragon/figwort family they belong to. The flower has 2 lips resting each other which form a tubular structure inside which are the reproductive organs. The tube ends to a narrow, curved-up, cream-coloured spur. The flower is supported from its centre by 5 green, oval sepals. The length of the flower (lips to spur) is about 12mm, while the lips are 4-5mm wide. The upper lip has 2 deep purple lobes while the lower lip has acontrasting bright yellow with 3 smaller lobes. The inner edges of the lower lip are also tainted with deep purple.
Inside, at the roof of the upper lip, there are the 4 small stamens which are so close to each other, that their anthers touch and looks to be as a single unit. Anthers are covered with white pollen. The tiny pistil has a superior ovary and a single style that is hidden between the stamens.
The fruit is a very small capsule (2-3mm) which is mostly covered by the calyx. Initially the capsule is green and when ripe it hardens and becomes light brown. The dehiscent capsule splits open and release it tiny (1mm) dark brown seeds. Each capsule hold a small number of seeds - not
more than 20.
|
|
| Additional Information |
Nativity and distribution
Kickxia possess about 46 species which are, native to West African islands, North Africa, Europe and Asia. Kickxia spuria and possibly Kickxia commutata have become naturalised in southern Africa. [WWW-109]
Soil type
Well-drained chalky soils. More frequently on calcareous clays than Sharp-leaved Fluellen, but less frequently on sands. [WWW-112]
Germination and Seed Dormancy
Seeds of Kickxia spuria, Polygonum persicaria and Sinapis arvensis buried in soil at depths of 1, 5, 10 and 20 cm, after 42 months the losses of undamaged seeds were estimated and found to be greater at 1 cm depth for K. spuria and S. arvensis but not for P. persicaria. Germination tests showed: (1) that germination was generally greater after burial than after dry storage; (2) that the germination capacity of S. arvensis increased with time whereas that of K. spuria decreased, as did that of P. persicaria, but more slowly; (c) that germination capacity increased with depth of burial and temp. and light requirements were reduced in buried seed; (d) that there were seasonal fluctuations in the germination capacity, samples taken in spring performing better than autumn ones; and (e) that only spring samples of P. persicaria germinated at low temp. and light was always required [WWW-113].
Sub species
There are 2 sub species of this plant which are:
Kickxia spuria subsp. spuria
Kickxia spuria subsp. integrifolia
According to reference [332] the subspecies found in Malta is the integrifolia
Not much information has been found about this particular plant species. If you can supply further info to be included in this profile, please do not hesitate to email us. Alternatively, input the new info you can supply at the form found at the botom of this page. Full reference credits will be given accordingly. Thank you for your support!
|
|
|
|
|
| Submit More Information |
Use the form below to submit more information about this plant or a related species. If the data is taken from a book, journal, website, etc, please provide the corresponding reference / website address as indicated in the form. If it is your own observation, then your name will be cited.
Your Email address will never be displayed online, it is just for internal communication.
For plant species that are marked as rare, you can also report other locations in Malta where you have seen this species.
Finally you can report any mistakes or errors found on the plant profile for necessary corrections. This will help to improve the website's acuracy.
To have more details about each particular field, just move your mouse on it and wait for the help message to pop up
* = required fields.
|
|
|
Online Quotation 
Online Payment
