While waiting for our transport to take us to various botanical sites, we looked at the plants on some cliffs which were right next to the local recycling centre. Hardly the place you might expect to find a rarity but the rocks were covered in this endemic Aubretia which looks very similar to A. deltoidea (Common Aubretia).

The difference between the two is small but both simple and star shaped hairs are present in A. deltoidea but only star shaped hairs in A. columnae. We were assured that this was an endemic but other botanical sites say it is found not only in Italy but also in Sardinia.

Aubrieta columnae ssp italica Aubretia Cliffs at Monte St. Angelo, Gargano, Italy Previous   Next	Aubrieta columnae ssp italica Aubretia Cliffs at Monte St. Angelo, Gargano, Italy Previous   Next
Aubrieta columnae ssp italica whole plant	Aubrieta columnae ssp italica close

Cliffs at Monte St. Angelo, Gargano, Italy, 23rd April 2009

Added on November 9th 2009, updated 1st March 2010