Ptilostemon gnaphaloides (Cirillo) Soják
Chamaepeuce gnaphaloides (Cirillo) DC.
Shrub that frequently exceeds 1 m in height, with densely white-tomentose stems, branched in verticils in the upper part. Leaves up to 15 cm long and 1-3 cm wide, linear, straight or recurved, with revolute margins, green and slightly arachnoid on the upper side, densely white-tomentose on the underside, sessile, with spinulose-mucronate apex. Capitula longly pedunculate, forming lax terminal corymbs, with all flowers in disc florets and hairy receptacle. Involucre 15-20 mm, from broadly ovoid to campanulate, floccose, with several rows of imbricate, acuminate bracts, yellowish at the base and purple at the apex; outer and middle bracts narrowly triangular, rigid, erect-patent; inner bracts linear-lanceolate. Achenes 4-6 mm, obovoid, with pappus formed by numerous setae up to 17 mm, feathery.
Flowering:
April to June.
Fruiting:
May to July.
Habitat:
Rocky outcrops and limestones stony areas and wadis, from sea level to 750 m in altitude.
Distribution:
Eastern Mediterranean. In North Africa it is known in Libya (Cyrenaica).
Observations:
Represented in North Africa by the subsp. gnaphaloides, endemic to the S of Italy (Calabria), W of Greece (Island of Corfu) and Libya (Cyrenaica).
Conservation status:
Not a common species but widely distributed. In North Africa, it is rare and very localised. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
