Picris amalecitana, Picris intermedia,
Hagioseris amalecitana, Amalek ox-tongue,
Hebrew: מררית החוף, Arabic: مرير العماليق

Scientific name:  Picris amalecitana (Boiss.) Eig
Synonym name:  Picris intermedia Eig, Hagioseris amalecitana Boiss.
Common name:  Amalek ox-tongue
Hebrew name:  מררית החוף
Arabic name:  مرير العماليق
Family:  Compositae (Asteraceae), מורכבים

Picris amalecitana, Picris intermedia, Hagioseris amalecitana, Amalek ox-tongue, מררית החוף,  مرير العماليق

Life form:  Annual with rigid hairs
Stems:  Flowering stems 8-40 cm, usually branched from base
Leaves:  Entire, sinuate-dentate
Inflorescence:  Capitula few
Flowers:  Flowering heads 1.5 cm in diameter. Inner involucral bracts glochidiate, in fruit indurate and canaliculate below
Fruits / pods:  Achenes
Flowering Period:  March, April
Habitat:  Sands of the coastal plain, the Negev deserts and prairies
Distribution:  Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes
Chorotype:  Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral

Picris amalecitana, Picris intermedia, Hagioseris amalecitana, Amalek ox-tongue, מררית החוף,  مرير العماليق


Derivation of the botanical name:
Picris Greek picros, bitter, from the bitter taste of the plant.
amalecitana, Amalek, a tribe dwelling originally in the region south of Judah in Biblical times.
intermedia, intermediate
Hagioseris, Greek ἅγιος hágios, "sacred, devoted to the gods," seris, endive, chicory.
ox-tongue, from the shape of the leaves.
The Hebrew name: מררית, mararit, from מרר, mrar (= to be bitter); properly loan translation of the Latin name Picris (=a bitter herb), from Greek pikris, from pikros (= bitter).
  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.
  • The standard author abbreviation Eig is used to indicate Alexander Eig (1894 – 1938), a botanist, one of the first plant researchers in Israel, head of department for Botanics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and co-founder of Jerusalem Botanical Gardens on Mount Scopus.
Picris amalecitana is endemic to Israel, Sinai beaches and the coast of south Lebanon. Sands is one of its habitats.

Picris amalecitana, Picris intermedia, Hagioseris amalecitana, Amalek ox-tongue, מררית החוף,  مرير العماليق


Picris amalecitana, Picris intermedia, Hagioseris amalecitana, Amalek ox-tongue, מררית החוף,  مرير العماليق