Erysimum scoparium facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Erysimum scoparium |
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| In habitat, Las Cañadas, Tenerife | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Erysimum
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| Species: |
scoparium
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Erysimum scoparium is a beautiful flowering plant that belongs to the Brassicaceae family. You might know its relatives, the wallflowers! This plant is special because it only grows in the Canary Islands, a group of islands near Africa. It's a small, bushy plant with pretty purplish flowers. You can usually find it growing high up in the mountains.
What Does It Look Like?
Erysimum scoparium is a small, bushy plant that lives for many years. We call plants like this "perennials" because they come back each growing season. Its leaves are long and thin, sometimes a bit pointy. The flowers grow on tall, straight stems. When they first open, they might be lighter, but they turn a lovely purplish color as they get older. After the flowers, the plant grows long, thin seed pods. These pods, called "siliquae", stand upright and hold brown seeds inside.
Some scientists have noticed slightly different types of this plant. For example, one type, called E. scoparium subsp. cinereum, stands even straighter and has longer flower clusters (these clusters are called "inflorescences"). Plants found on the island of Gran Canaria sometimes have wider leaves and darker brown seeds. Some people think these are a separate species, but others believe they are just a variation of Erysimum scoparium.
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Flowers
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Seedpods
How It Was Named
The plant Erysimum scoparium was first described in 1809 by a scientist named Pierre Broussonet. He first called it Cheiranthus scoparius. Later, in 1889, another scientist named Richard Wettstein moved it to the Erysimum group of plants. Sometimes, you might see another name, Erysimum albescens, which some people use for a slightly different type of this plant. However, not all scientists agree that it's a completely separate species.
Where It Grows
Erysimum scoparium is an endemic plant, which means it grows naturally only in one specific place. For this plant, that place is the Canary Islands. You can find it in the mountains of Tenerife, often at very high altitudes, between 1,600 and 2,200 meters (about 5,200 to 7,200 feet) high in an area called Las Cañadas. A different type of this plant (subsp. cinereum) grows at lower altitudes, around 300 to 500 meters (about 1,000 to 1,600 feet), in the Valle del Santiado del Teide. It also grows in the mountains of La Palma. If we include the plants from Gran Canaria (which some scientists call E. albescens), then Erysimum scoparium also grows there. On Gran Canaria, it likes dry areas and pine forests, usually at elevations of 1,400 to 1,800 meters (about 4,600 to 5,900 feet).
See also
In Spanish: Alhelí del Teide para niños
