Cerinthe major L.
honeywort
Annual, with erect glabrous stems to c. 60 cm high, but often much less. Lvs on flowering stems sessile, cordate and amplexicaul, 2-6 × 1-2 cm; lower lvs oblong to broadly ovate below infl., glaucous, white- tuberculate and rough above. Cymes elongating to c. 12 cm long; bracts to c. 3 × 2.5 cm, broadly ovate to suborbicular, blue or bluish purple, tuberculate above, ciliate. Calyx slightly < bracts; lobes unequal, blue, ciliate. Corolla 1.8-2 cm long, pendent, the basal 1/2 yellow, narrowed, the upper 1/2 dark purple; lobes c. 1 mm long, recurved. Stamens reaching corolla mouth; filaments flattened; anthers 5-6 mm long. Style long-exserted, filiform. Nutlet pairs asymmetric, c. 4 mm diam., slightly beaked with broad flat base.
N.: vicinity of Auckland City, occasional.
S. Europe 1980
Roadsides.
FL Mar-Dec.
The sp. is illustrated in Fig. 40. C. major is the only honeywort commonly cultivated in N.Z.; it seeds prolifically and plants often grow spontaneously in open cultivated areas or in gravel paths and similar habitats.
