Flora of North America species comparison

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Lobularia maritima

sweet alison, sweet-alyssum
Habit Plants suffruticose (when subshrubs).
Stems

0.5–2.5(–4) dm.
Leaves

blade linear or lanceolate-oblanceolate, (1–)1.6–2.5(–4.2) cm × (1–)2–3(–7) mm, base attenuate, apex acute.
Racemes

elongated in fruit, (1–)4–8(–16) cm, (dense).
Flowers

sepals often tinged purplish, (1.4–)1.5–1.7(–2.4) mm;

petals broadly obovate, (1.9–)2.3–2.8(–3.1) × (1.2–)1.6–2(–2.6) mm, abruptly contracted into claw;

filaments 1.2–2 mm;

anthers 0.3–0.5 mm.
Fruiting pedicels

(3–)4.5–6(–9.5) mm.
Fruits

(1.9–)2.3–2.7(–4.2) × (1.2–)1.6–2(–2.9) mm;

valve margins thin, sparsely pubescent;

style 0.4–0.6 mm.
Seeds

light to reddish brown, not winged, (1–)1.2–1.4(–2) × (0.7–)1–1.1(–1.6) mm.
2n

= 24.

Lobularia maritima
Phenology Flowering year-round (peak spring–summer).
Habitat Roadsides, waste places, vacant lots, cultivated fields, walls, coastal fir zone, mainly along Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts, also ephemeral inland
Elevation 0-800 m [0-2600 ft]
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CT; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MS; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; TX; UT; VT; WA; BC; NS; ON; QC; Europe; Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lobularia maritima is widely cultivated as an ornamental; many cultivars are on the market. It was introduced to North America because of its drought tolerance and attractive, scented white flowers (R. Ornduff 1974). It has been reported as cultivated in the northern United States back to 1856 (A. Gray 1856). The cultivars naturalize very easily and have been known as locally established garden escapes in North America back to the end of the nineteenth century (N. L. Britton and A. Brown 1896–1898, vol. 2).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 7, p. 598.
Parent taxa Brassicaceae > tribe Malcolmieae > Lobularia
Synonyms Clypeola maritima, Alyssum maritimum, Koniga maritima
Name authority (Linnaeus) Desvaux: J. Bot. Agric. 3: 162. (1815)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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