Helianthemum nummularium

Helianthemum nummularium
File:Sonnenröschen.jpg
Helianthemum nummularium subsp. glabrum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Cistaceae
Genus:	Helianthemum
Species:	H. nummularium
Binomial name
Helianthemum nummularium (L.) Mill.

File:Helianthemum nummularium MHNT.BOT.2007.43.43.jpg

Helianthemum nummularium - MHNT

Helianthemum nummularium (known as common rock-rose) is a species of rock-rose (Cistaceae), native to most of Europe.

Description

It is an evergreen trailing plant with loose terminal clusters of bright yellow, saucer-shaped flowers. In the flower centre is a tight cluster of orange stamens, which are sensitive to the touch, and spread outwards to reveal the tall stigma in the middle. The plant is common on chalk downs, and occasional in other grasslands, always on dry, base-rich soil. The wild species has yellow flowers, but garden varieties range from white through yellow to deep red.

Though the individual blooms are short-lived, the plant produces a mass of flowers through the summer. It needs a dry, sunny place, like a south-facing rockery or meadow. As the Latin name Helianthemum suggests, these are sun-flowers. This is a good nectar source for bees and there are several species of small beetle that feed on the foliage. Common rock-rose is also the food plant for the larvae of several species of moth and butterfly.

It flowers from May until July.

Subspecies

There are eight subspecies:

• Helianthemum nummularium subsp. nummularium. Widespread.
• Helianthemum nummularium subsp. berterianum. Italy, southeast France.
• Helianthemum nummularium subsp. glabrum. Central and southern Europe.
• Helianthemum nummularium subsp. grandiflorum. Central and southern Europe.
• Helianthemum nummularium subsp. obscurum. Eastern Europe.
• Helianthemum nummularium subsp. pyrenaicum. Pyrenees.
• Helianthemum nummularium subsp. semiglabrum. Italy, southeast France.
• Helianthemum nummularium subsp. tomentosum. Southern Europe.

Images

• Helianthemum alpestre0.jpg
• Sonnenröschen.jpg
• Sonnenröschen02.jpg

subsp. grandiflorum (Scop.) Schinz & Thell.

• Helianthemum grandiflorum a1.jpg
• Helianthemum grandiflorum a2.jpg

subsp. nummularium

• Helianthemum nummularium1.jpg
• Solvända.jpg

subsp. obscurum (Čelak.) Holub)

• Helianthemum nummularium subsp obscurum 260807.jpg

  H. nummularium subsp. obscurum
  Germany - Schwäbisch Fränkische Waldberge

• Helianthemum nummularium subsp obscurum 260807a.jpg

  H. nummularium subsp. obscurum
  Germany - Schwäbisch Fränkische Waldberge

• 

  H. nummularium subsp. obscurum
  Germany - Schwäbische Alb

• Helianthemum nummularium subsp obscurum 220608.jpg

  H. nummularium subsp. obscurum
  Germany - Schwäbische Alb

• Helianthemum nummularifolium1.jpg
• Helianthemum nummularifolium0.jpg

Pink-flowered cultivars

• Prolecne-perene-2.jpg
• Perene-roze.jpg

Illustrations

• Helianthemum vulgare Sturm51.jpg
• Helianthemum vulgare flowerdiagram.png

  flower diagram

Unclassified images of Helianthemum nummularium

• Helianthemum nummularium2.jpg
• Helianthemum nummularium2.JPG
• Helianthemum nummularium - leafs (aka).jpg

References

• Flora Europaea: Helianthemum nummularium