Azorina vidalii

Azorina vidalii (also known as the Azores bellflower) is the only species of the genus Azorina within the Campanulaceae, the bellflower family. This endemic species of the Azores is used as an ornamental plant in other countries besides the Azores.[3]

Azorina vidalii
Flowers of Azorina vidalii.
Flowers of Azorina vidalii, detail of inflorescence.
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
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Genus:
Azorina

Species:
A. vidalii
Binomial name
Azorina vidalii
Synonyms

See text.[2]

It was first given the name Campanula vidalii by Hewett Cottrell Watson in Hooker's Icones Plantarum, table DCLXXXIV (684); Watson gave it the specific name vidalii after "Capt. Vidal, R.N.", who collected the original plant.[4] Heinrich Feer changed the name to Azorina vidalii, creating a new genus Azorina, in Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie, 12, S. 611.[5][6]

Description

 
Plant of Azorina vidalii

The Azores bellflower is an evergreen, perennial herbaceous plant that grows to a height of 80 to 150 centimetres. It produces branches at the base and these branches are woody in the lower part. The plant has dark green leaves.

The plant flowers from May to October. The inflorescence has many hanging, waxy, pale pink, bell-shaped flowers . The Azorina vidalii forma alba has, as the name suggests, white flowers.

Where it grows

The Azores bellflower is rare and usually grows in holes in cliffs near the sea, below the 50 metres of altitude. It is usually accompanied by the plant Salicornia, which also tolerate the salt in the wind coming from the sea. The plant is found in all the islands of the Azores archipelago, but not on the island of Graciosa.[7]

Synonyms

  • Campanula vidalii H.C.Watson, Icon. Pl. 7: t. 684 (1844).
  • Azorina vidalii f. alba Sealy, Bot. Mag. 176: t. 527 1968).
  • Campanula vidalii f. alba Sealy, Bot. Mag. 176: t. 527 (1968).

Azorina Vidalii Media

References

  1. "Azorina viladii". iucnredlist.org. 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  2. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. "Azorina vidalii". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  3. "Azorina vidalii". USDA - Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  4. Hewett Cottrell Watson. "Hooker's Icones Plantarum". Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  5. Heinrich Feer. "Bot. Jahrb. Syst" (in Latina). Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  6. Missouri Botanical Garden. "Azorina vidalii (H.C.Wats.) Feer". Tropicos.org. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  7. Silva, Luís; Press, Bob; Rumsey, Fred; Carine, Mark; Henderson, Sally; Sjögren, Erik; Pinto, Nuno (2005). "Listagem da fauna e flora terrestres dos Açores. Lista des plantas vasculares (Pteridophyta e Spermatophyta)" (pdf). p. 139. Retrieved 28 April 2013.

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