Carrichtera annua, Ward’s Weed,
Hebrew: כפיות שעירות, Arabic: ام قرين

Scientific name:  Carrichtera annua (L.) DC.
Common name:   Ward’s Weed
Hebrew name:  כפיות שעירות
Arabic name:  ام قرين
Plant Family:  Cruciferae / Brassicaceae, מצליבים

פרחים וצמחי בר בארץ ישראל
Location: Dudaim Forest, Goral Hills

Life form:  Annual
Stems:  Erect, 5–40 cm high, reflexed bristly hairs, branching basally, decumbent
Leaves:  Alternate, rosette, dissected twice or more, dentate or serrate
Flowers:  Raceme 10–30 mm long; sepals c. 4 mm long; petals 8–9 mm long, white, cream-yellow, purple-veined
Fruits / pods:  Silique 6–7 mm long, pendent on pedicel 2–3 mm long; beak 3–4 mm long, c. 3 mm wide, spoon-like; valves c. 3 mm long, 3–4 mm wide, 3-veined; seeds 3 or 4 per loculus
Flowering Period:  January, February, March, April, May
Habitat:  Shrub-steppes, Desert
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts
Chorotype:  Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:  Ephemeral

Carrichtera annua, Ward’s Weed, כפיות שעירות
Location: Dudaim Forest, Goral Hills


Derivation of the botanical name:
Carrichtura, for Bartholomaeus Carrichter (1510-1567), physician to Emperor Maximilian II.
annua, annu, that lasts a year; returns, or recurs every year; annual.
  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
  • The standard author abbreviation DC is used to indicate Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778–1841), a French botanist.

Flora of Israel online, Native plants, Palestine
Location: Dudaim Forest, Goral Hills