''Limonium'' is a genus of about 600 flowering plant species. Members are also known as sea-lavender, statice, caspia or marsh-rosemary. Despite their common names, species are not related to the

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native plant, native to the Old World, primarily found across the drier, warmer regions of the Mediterranean ...

s or to

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean r ...

. They are instead in

Plumbaginaceae Plumbaginaceae is a family (biology), 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 plant, perennial h ...

, the plumbago or leadwort family. The generic name is from the Latin ', used by Pliny for a wild plant and is ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek ' (, 'meadow').

Distribution

The genus has a subcosmopolitan distribution in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and Australia. By far the greatest diversity (over 100 species) is in the area stretching from the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

east through the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

region to central Asia; for comparison, North America only has three native ''Limonium'' species.

Description

Sea-lavenders normally grow as

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...

s, growing 10–70 cm tall from a

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

; a few (mainly from the Canary Islands) are woody

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s up to 2 metres tall. Many species flourish in

saline Saline may refer to: Salt-related * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially American) for a salt works or saltern Places United States ...

soils, and are therefore common near

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

s and in

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

es, and also on saline,

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

and

alkaline In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The ...

soils in continental interiors. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are simple, entire to lobed, and from 1–30 cm long and 0.5–10 cm broad; most of the leaves are produced in a dense basal

rosette Rosette is the French diminutive of ''rose''. It may refer to: Flower shaped designs * Rosette (award), a mark awarded by an organisation * Rosette (design), a small flower design *hence, various flower-shaped or rotational symmetric forms: ** R ...

, with the flowering stems bearing only small brown scale-leaves (

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s). The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are produced on a branched

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

corymb Corymb is a botanical term for an inflorescence with the flowers growing in such a fashion that the outermost are borne on longer pedicels than the inner, bringing all flowers up to a common level. A corymb has a flattish top with a superficial re ...

, the individual flowers are small (4–10 mm long) with a five-lobed

calyx CALYX, Inc. is a non-profit publisher of art and literature by women founded in 1976 based in Corvallis, Oregon. CALYX publishes both '' CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women'' twice a year and CALYX Books, which publishes one to three ...

and corolla, and five

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s; the flower colour is pink or violet to purple in most species, white or yellow in a few. Many of the species are

apomictic In botany, apomixis is asexual reproduction, asexual development of seed or embryo without Fertilisation, fertilization. However, other definitions include replacement of the seed by a plantlet or replacement of the flower by bulbils. Apomictic ...

. The fruit is a small capsule containing a single

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

, partly enclosed by the persistent calyx.

Features

Several species are popular

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

flowers; they are generally known to gardeners as ''statices''. They are grown both for their flowers and for the appearance of the

, which remains on the plant after the true flowers have fallen, and are known as "everlasting flowers".

Species

There are about 600 species in the genus, many of them local

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

species with a very restricted range. Species not given a common name here are generally referred to simply as "sea-lavender", "statice," or "marsh-rosemary". *'' Limonium aragonense'' (

Monegros Los Monegros is a comarca in Aragon, Spain. It is located within the provinces of Zaragoza and Huesca. The area is prone to chronic droughts, and much of the area is a natural region made up of badlands. Los Monegros borders seven comarcas: H ...

, endemic) *'' Limonium arboreum'' (tree limonium or ''Statice arborea'';

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

, endemic) *'' Limonium aureum'' (central Asia:

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

, Mongolia, northwest China) *'' Limonium auriculaeursifolium'' (Alderney sea-lavender; southwest Europe, northwest Africa) *'' Limonium australe'' (Australia) *'' Limonium bellidifolium'' (matted sea-lavender; Europe, southwest Asia) *'' Limonium bicolor'' (Mongolia, northwest China) *''

Limonium binervosum ''Limonium binervosum'', commonly known as rock sea-lavender, is an aggregate species in the family Plumbaginaceae. Despite the common name, rock sea-lavender is not related to the lavenders or to rosemary but is a perennial herb with small vio ...

'' (rock sea-lavender; western Europe) *'' Limonium bourgaei'' (

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

, endemic) *'' Limonium brassicifolium'' (Canary Islands, ''Statice brassicifolia'') *'' Limonium braunii'' (Cape Verde) *'' Limonium brunneri'' (Cape Verde) *'' Limonium caesium'' (western Mediterranean) *'' Limonium californicum'' (California sea-lavender; western North America,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

to Baja California) *''Limonium callianthum'' (western China: Xinjiang) Limonium cancellatum sl1

*''Limonium cancelatum'' (eastern Mediterranean Croatia) *''Limonium carolinianum'' (Carolina sea-lavender; eastern North America, Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland to Bermuda, Florida and Tamaulipas; synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''L. angustatum, L. nashii'') *''Limonium caspium'' (central Europe east to central Asia) *''Limonium chrysocomum'' (central Asia) *''Limonium confusum'' (western Mediterranean) *''Limonium congestum'' (central Asia) *''Limonium coralloides'' (central Asia) *''Limonium cordatum'' (central Mediterranean) *''Limonium cosyrense'' (eastern Mediterranean) *''Limonium delicatulum'' (western Mediterranean) *''Limonium dichroanthum'' (central Asia) *''Limonium dielsianum'' (western China: Gansu, Qinghai) *''Limonium dregeanum'' (Natal statice; South Africa) *''Limonium echioides'' (Mediterranean) *''Limonium emarginatum'' (southern Iberia, northern Morocco) *''Limonium ferulaceum'' (western Mediterranean) *''Limonium flexuosum'' (central Asia) *''Limonium franchetii'' (east coastal China) *''Limonium fruticans'' (Tenerife, endemic) *''Limonium gmelinii'' (eastern Europe, northern Asia, Siberia) *''Limonium gougetianum'' (western Mediterranean) *''Limonium humile'' (lax-flowered sea-lavender; northwest Europe) *''Limonium imbricatum'' (Tenerife, endemic) *''Limonium insigne'' (southeast Spain, endemic) *''Limonium jovibarba'' (Cape Verde) *''Limonium kaschgaricum'' (central Asia) *''Limonium iranicum'' (Iran) *''Limonium lacostei'' (western China, Tibet, Kashmir) *''Limonium leptolobum'' (central Asia) *''Limonium leptostachyum'' (statice; central Asia) *''Limonium lilacinum'' (central Turkey, endemic) *''Limonium limbatum'' (Transpecos sea-lavender; interior southwest United States) *''Limonium lobinii'' (Cape Verde) *''Limonium macrophyllum'' (Tenerife) Limonium scabrum00

*''Limonium macropterum'' (Canary Islands) *''Limonium macrorhabdos'' (Ladakh) *''Limonium melitensis'' (Malta) *''Limonium minutum'' (southeast France, endemic) *''Limonium mouretii'' (Morocco) *''Limonium multiflorum'' (western Portugal, endemic) *''Limonium myrianthum'' (central Asia) *''Limonium narbonense'' (Southern Europe, North Africa, Southwest Asia) *''Limonium nashii'' (Maritime North America) *''Limonium ornatum'' (Morocco) *''Limonium otolepis'' (Saltmarsh sea-lavender; southwest and central Asia) *''Limonium paradoxum'' (Great Britain, Ireland,Flora Europaea
/ref> endemic) *''Limonium paulayanum'' (Yemen, endemic) *''Limonium pectinatum'' (Canary Islands) *''Limonium peregrinum'' (South Africa) *''Limonium perezii'' (Perez's sea-lavender; Canary Islands) *''Limonium platyphyllum'' (German statice; central and southeast Europe) *''Limonium potaninii'' (western China: Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu) *''Limonium preauxii'' (Canary Islands) *''Limonium puberulum'' (Canary Islands) *''Limonium ramosissimum'' (Mediterranean) *''Limonium reniforme'' (kidneyleaf sea-lavender; Iran) *''Limonium rezniczenkoanum'' (central Asia) *''Limonium sibthorpianum'' (Mediterranean: Sicily in Italy) *''Limonium scabrum'' Kuntze (South Africa) *''Limonium sieberi'' (eastern Mediterranean) *''Limonium sinense'' (eastern Asia coasts: China, Ryukyu Islands, Vietnam) *''Limonium sinuatum'' (wavyleaf sea-lavender; Mediterranean) *''Limonium sokotranum'' (Yemen, endemic) *''Limonium solanderi'' (Australia) *''Limonium spathulatum'' (Mediterranean) *''Limonium spectabile'' (Canary islands) *''Limonium strictissimum'' (Mediterranean: France, Italy) *''Limonium suffruticosum'' (western and central Asia) *''Limonium tenellum'' (Mongolia, northwest China) *''Limonium tetragonum'' (square-stalked sea lavender; eastern Asia south to New Caledonia) *''Limonium thouinii'' (Mediterranean) *''Limonium tomentellum'' (Black Sea region) *''Limonium virgatum'' (western Mediterranean) *''Limonium vulgare'' (common sea-lavender; western Europe, northwest Africa) *''Limonium wrightii'' (Japan, Taiwan) *''Limonium zeraphae'' (Malta) *''Limonium calabrum'' (Italy) Some species formerly included in ''Limonium'', e.g. ''L. tataricum'', have now been transferred to the separate genus ''Goniolimon''.

References

External links

German Statice Flower
{{Authority control Limonium, Plumbaginaceae genera Halophytes Taxa named by Philip Miller