Kingdom Plantae Family Asteraceae Rank Species | Order Asterales Genus Artemisia | |
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Similar Euphorbia tuckeyana, Sarcostemma daltonii, Erysimum caboverdeanum, Echium hypertropicum, Micromeria forbesii | ||
Artemisia gorgonum (name etymology: Artemisia and mermaid) is a species of aster flowers that belong to the Asteraceae family. The species are endemic in Cape Verde. Its last form of the scientific name is gorgonum which rare resembles and shaped like mermaids.
Contents
Its local name is called lorna or losna. The plant plays a role in traditional medicine.
Variation
No significant variation has been observed. Old plants higher than 0.5-1 m are extremely rare today. Large plants up to 2 m are only known from outer escarpments of the central caldeira on Fogo as scattered relicts of a scrub vegetation type with old individuals of Globularia amygdalifolia and Echium vulcanorum.
Distribution and ecology
Artemisia gorgonum are founded in the island of Santo Antão, Santiago (especially in Serra da Malagueta) and Fogo (especially Chã das Caldeiras). It is mainly occurring in the subhumid and humid zones, but it has also been reported from the arid zone on Santiago. The main altitudinal distribution is between 400 m and 2200 m. The uppermost records are from the caldeira rim on Fogo up to 2400 m (leg. Killian& Leyens). The plants grow on mountain slopes and less frequently in steep cliffs and they form a characteristic, but not dominating element of the indigenous montane scrub vegetation in the Cape Verde Islands.
Artemisia gorgonum can be founded at Jardim Botânico Nacional Grandvaux Barbosa.