This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Erysimum is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Wallflowers | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Teide wallflower Erysimum scoparium
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Species | ||||||||||||||
|
Over 220, see text |
||||||||||||||
| Synonyms | ||||||||||||||
|
See text |
The genus Erysimum (wallflowers) includes more than 220 species, both popular garden plants and many wild forms. The genus Cheiranthus is sometimes included herein whole or in part.
Contents |
Morphology
Wallflowers are small, annual, short-lived perennial herbs or sub-shrubs, reaching 10-130 cm tall. Most species have stems erect, somewhat winged, canescent with an indumentum of 2-fid hairs, usually 25 ± 53 cm x 2-3 mm in size, and t-shaped trichomes. Leaves narrow and sessile. Lower leaves linear to oblanceolate pinnatifid with backwardly directed lobes, acute, 50-80 mm x 0.5-3 mm. Stem leaves linear, entire; all canescent with 2-fid hairs; 21-43 mm x 1.5-2 mm. Inflorescence in raceme, with bright yellow to red or pink bilateral and hermaphodite, hypogynous and ebracteate flowers. Flowering occurs during spring and summer. One species, Erysimum semperflorens, native to Morocco and Algeria, has white flowers. Floral pedicel ranges between 4 and 7 mm. Four free sepals somewhat saccate, light green, 5-7 mm x 1.5-2 mm.
Distribution
Wallflowers are native to southwest Asia, the Mediterranean region, Europe, Macaronesia (Including Cabo Verde), and North America through Costa Rica. Many wallflowers are endemic to small areas, such as the Teide wallflower E. scoparium, endemic to the Teide volcano on Tenerife, E. aetnense endemic to the Etna volcano in Sicily, the Franciscan wallflower E. franciscanum, endemic to the northern California coast, the Sierra Nevada wallflower E. nevadense, endemic to the Sierra Nevada of Spain, E. moranii from Guadalupe Island (Mexico), and the endangered Santa Cruz wallflower E. teretifolium, endemic to the inland sandhills of Santa Cruz County, California. Erysimum kykkoticum, found only on Cyprus, is nearly extinct.
Ecology
Erysimum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species including the Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata). In addition, some species of weevils, like Ceutorhynchus chlorophanus, live inside the fruits feeding on the developing seeds. Many species of beetles, bugs and grasshoppers eat on the leaves and stalks. Some mammalian herbivores, for example Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in North America, Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) in Central Europe, or Spanish Ibex (Capra pyrenaica) in the Iberian Peninsula, feed on wallflower flowering and fruiting stalks.
Most wallflowers are pollinator-generalists, their flowers being visited by many different species of bees, bee flies, hoverflies, butterflies, beetles, and ants. However, there some specialist species. For example, Teide wallflower is pollinated almost exclusively by Anthophora alluadii.
Selected species
Cultivation
Most wallflower garden cultivars (e.g. Erysimum 'Chelsea Jacket') are derived from E. cheiri (often placed in Cheiranthus), from southern Europe. Growth is best in dry soils with very good drainage, and they are often grown successfully in loose wall mortar, hence the vernacular name. Their flowers are often purple or brown.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Erysimum |
 |
Look up wallflower in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Evoflor, a web page on Erysimum floral evolution
- Erysimums.org, webpage of a UK collector of erysimums
- Herbario del Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología, CSIC (Jaca, Aragón, Spain)
- Botánica Sistemática, an open web on plants
 Erysimum wittmanii inflorescence |
 |
This Brassicales article is a stub. Please help Wikipedia grow by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 13 November 2008, at 00:19.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Erysimum".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.