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RE: Oyster Plant - a highly regarded plant in Ancient Rome and Greece.

in #acanthus6 years ago

Again...wonderful flower post by @ctrl-alt-nwo sir...
Acanthus mollis, commonly known as bear's breeches.sea dock,bearsfoot[citation needed] or oyster plant,citation needed] is a herbaceous perennial plant with an underground rhizome in the genus Acanthus. It is regarded as an invasive species in some jurisdictions.
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Acanthus mollis reaches on average 30–80 cm (12–31 in) of height, with a maximum of 180 cm (71 in), inflorescence included. It has basal clusters of deeply lobed and cut, shiny dark green leaves, soft to the touch, up to 40 cm (16 in) long and 25 cm (9.8 in) broad, with a long petiole. The inflorescence is a cylindrical spike 30–40 cm (12–16 in) long and can produce up to 120 flowers. The flowers are tubular, whitish, and lilac or rose in colour. Each flower is up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long and it is surrounded by three green or purplish bracts. The central bract is spiny and larger than the other two. The calyx has two lips: the upper is purple on top, rather long and forms a kind of "helmet" on top of the corolla. The corolla is reduced to a white lower lip, trilobed, with purple-pink venation. The four stamens are fused to the corolla and look like tiny brushes. This species flowers in late spring or early summer, from May through August.

This plant is native to the Mediterranean region from Portugal and northwest Africa east to Croatia and it is one of the earliest cultivated species.

This garden plant is also quite common in the wild. It grows in dry areas, roadsides and wastelands, especially in rocky and bushy places. It is tolerant of drought and shade and generally does not exceed an altitude of 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level.

The shape of the Acanthus leaf of this plant inspired the ancient Greek sculptor Callimachus (5th c. BCE) to model the capital (crown) of the Corinthian column. Since then, the Corinthian order column has been used extensively in Greco-Roman architecture.Virgil describes Helen of Troy as wearing a dress embroidered with acanthus leaves.

Thanks sir...

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Good information here ! Thanks.