BREVIFLORA  Boissier, 1838

Synonyms:

Cotyledon breviflora  (Boissier) Maire (1925)

Cotyledon hispanica  Desfontaines (1798)

Pistorinia salzmannii  Boissier (1840) / Cotyledon breviflora ssp. salzmannii  (Boissier ex Emberger) Lindberg (1932) / Pistoria breviflora ssp.salzmannii  (Boissier) H.Jacobsen (1958)

Pistorinia intermedia  Boissier & Reuter (1856) / Pistorinia salzmannii ssp. intermedia  (Boissier & Reuter) Battandier (1899)  / Cotyledon breviflora ssp. intermedia  (Boissier & Reuter) Maire (1932) / Pistorinia breviflora ssp.intermedia  (Boissier & Reuter) Jacobsen (1958)

Pistorinia salzmannii fa flaviflora  Battandier (1889)  / Cotyledon breviflora var. flaviflora  (Battandier) Maire (1932)

Pistorinia var. rubella  Battandier (1889)  / Cotyledon breviflora var. rubella  (Battandier) Maire (1932)

Cotyledon breviflora fa concolor  Lindberg (1932)

Cotyledon breviflora fa maculigera  Lindberg (1932)

Cotyledon breviflora var. flava  Maire (1932)

Cotyledon breviflora var. rhodantha  Maire (1932) / Pistorinia breviflora var. rhodantha  (Maire) H.Jacobsen (1958)

Cotyledon salzmannii fa punctata  Lindberg (1932)  / Cotyledon breviflora fa punctata  (Lindberg) Maire (1977)

Cotyledon salzmannii fa purpureo-apiculata  Lindberg (1932) / Cotyledon breviflora fa purpureo-maculata  (Lindberg)) Maire (1977)

Cotyledon salzmannii fa unicolor  Lindberg (1932) / Cotyledon breviflora fa unicolor  (Lindberg) Maire (1977)

Cotyledon breviflora var. variegata  Gattefossé & Maire (1938)

Cotyledon breviflora var. subbrachyantha  Maire (1977)

Cotyledon breviflora var. xanthanta  Maire (1977)

Distribution : Spain, North Africa; sea-level to ± 1000 m.

Description (according to IHSP, 2003) :

Stems erect, firm, sometimes branched, to 15 cm tall.

Leaves terete to semiterete, elliptic-ovate, 7 – 12,5 (-16) x 1 – 2 (-4,5) mm, obtuse or subacute, green often tinged with red.

Inflorescences lax, usually many-flowered cymes with 2 or more branched cincinni, bracts small, pedicels 1 – 6,5 mm.

Flowers : Sepals lanceolate, 2 – 2,5 mm, acute-acuminate, petals yellow, 8 – 20 (-25) mm, basally connate for 5 – 13 mm forming an infundibuliform tube, lobes ovate, 4,5 – 6 (-7) mm, acute, inner face often with variable numbers of red dots, filaments yellow, anthers yellow.

Extremely polymorphic in respect to the amount of purple coloration of the corolla, and size and shape of the corolla tube.

Although local populations are often quite uniform in these characters, the total variation is a continous series that renders the naming of these forms utterly futile.