Physospermum cornubiense (L) DC Bladder Seed
NOMENCLATURE
Physospermum : from Greek, ______ : bellows.
& ______ seed, reffering to inflated fruits.
cornubiense: of Cornwall.
PREVIOUS NAMES: Danna cornubiensis (L) Burnat.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
TYPE: almost glabrous perennial. Hs. STEMS: solid, striate.
HEIGHT 30-120cm. UMBELS: 1.5-5cm diarn. Compound, long-pedunculate. 10-14
smooth, slender, usually unequal rays 2-5cm long. Peduncle longer than the rays.
Terminal hermaphrodite. Lateral male +hermaphrodite.
LEAVES: basal: 2-ternate, broadly rhombic primary divisions long stalked. Lobes 15-20rnm,
ovate, cuneate base, pinnatifid/incise-serrate, puberulent margin, larger veins both surface.
Petiole long, slender. Cauline lvs few, simple.
BRACTS: 4-7 lanceolate to linear, acute, membranous. Bracteoles similar, but usually few.
FLOWERS: white, long pedicellate. Sepals triangular. Styles stout, spreading,
recurved in fruit, forming a stylopodium. Fl. 6-8.
FRUIT: 3-4 mm, inflated, broader than long. didymous, dark brown. Commisure narrow.
Mericarps smooth. Carpophore present. Vittae solitary. Pedicels 5-8 mm, smooth.
Styles x2 > as stylopodium, recurved. Stigma truncate.
HABITAT: open woods and scrub.
DISTRIBUTION: native. Local. S. Devon, E.Cornwall. One location
in Buckinghamshire. S.Europe. Temperate W.Asia.
