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Sweet alyssum is a low, much-branched and spreading
perennial 2" to 10" tall with prostrate to decumbent stems
and entire, alternate, linear to linear-lanceolate leaves 3/8"
to 2" long. The small, white, fragrant flowers are in terminal
racemes, and there are four widely-obovate petals, four sepals, and,
as is fairly typical in the mustard family, 6 stamens, 4 long and 2
short. The fruit is an orbicular silicle about 1/8" long
with two brown round-oblong seeds. Sweet alyssum is very often
cultivated and is frequently seen as a garden escape and naturalized
in waste places and along trails and roadsides at low elevations, also
along stream banks and beaches, blooming for most of the year. A
purple variant is less often seen but is also cultivated. Sweet alyssum
is a native of Europe.
Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Lobularia
2) maritima.
Pronunciation: lobe-yoo-LARE-ee-a mar-IT-i-ma.
Click here for Botanical
Term Meanings.
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