ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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Rosularia is a plant genus belonging to the long leaf family (Crassulaceae). The botanical name of the genus is derived from the Latin word “rosula” for Little Rose and refers to the foliage leaves united into rosettes.

Description
The species of the genus Rosularia are dwarf, mostly enduring, herbaceous, often aromatic, bare or glandular haired plants. Their roots are formed either as fibrous or thickened pile roots, or they are caudiciform and swollen. The flattened or spherical rosettes are seated and rarely on short shoots. They are individual or have seated or low-lying and elongated extensions. The more or less succulent, flat or keeled foliage leaves are elongated to wide spatulae. Their leaf edges are all-round, glandly haired and bristled or finely toothed.

The lateral or terminal inflorescence is upright or downright. The urn-, tube- or funnel-shaped flowers are narrow to broad bell- or star-shaped. They are sedentary, but more often also stalked. The flowers are five or five to nine-fold and obdiplostemon. The crown leaves are grown together on a tenth up to three quarters. They are white with a green or pink to red nerve or light yellow, pink, pink purple or slightly pink brown. The stamens are shorter than the crown leaves and are fused at the base with them.

The fruit is an upright bellows fruit. The light to dark brown, elongated ellipsoid seeds contained therein are 0.5 to 1.3 millimeters in size.

Nomenclature and distribution
The genus Rosularia is common in the eastern Mediterranean, Asia Minor, the Middle East, the Karakorum mountains and the Altaige mountains.

The first description as a section of the genus Umbilicus was made by Augustin-Pyrame de Candolle in 1828. Otto Stapf elevated the section to the rank of a genus in 1923. According to Henk ’t Hart (1944–2000), the genus Rosularia is divided into two sections with the following species:

Section Rosularia
Rosularia blepharophylla: Turkey.
Rosularia davisii Only occurs in Asia Minor
Rosularia elymaitica, occurs in Asia Minor
Rosularia globulariifolia occurs in Asia Minor
Rosularia haussknechtii’; Only occurs in Asia Minor
Rosularia lineata It only occurs in Near East Asia
Rosularia modesta: Southern Iran to Afghanistan. With the varieties:
Rosularia modesta var. linearifolia: Afghanistan.
Rosularia modesta var. modesta
Rosularia pallidiflora Only occurs in Cyprus
Rosularia × reginae : Turkey.
Rosularia rosulata: Western Himalayas.
Rosularia sempervivum : Eastern Turkey to Iran. With subspecies:
Rosularia sempervivum subsp. amanensis It occurs in Turkey.
Rosularia sempervivum subsp. glaucophylla: Turkey.
Rosularia sempervivum subsp. kurdica : Eastern Turkey to Iran.
Rosularia sempervivum subsp. libanotica : Turkey to Israel.
Rosularia sempervivum