Species name :

Drosanthemum hispidum(L.) Schwantes
Published in Z. Sukkulentenk. 3: 29 (1927)

Synonyms :
(basionym or principal syn.)

Mesembryanthemum hispidum L.

Full list of synonyms : [Euro+Med] [PlantList] [IPNI] [POWO] [Catalogue of Life ]

Plant Family :

Aizooaceae Rudolphi (The Fig-Marigold Family)
16 species from the Aizooaceae family are recorded from the Maltese Islands.

English name(s) :

Hairy Dewflower, Miniature Pigs Face

Maltese name(s) :

Maltese name not known

Status for Malta :

Introduced species for horticulture (flowering plants) or agriculture (herbs or fruiting trees) usually within the last 30-150 years and persist for long after their original location or site is abandoned. They do not widespread but usually remain as a single tree or a very localised population.

Frequency :

Very Common     Common     Frequent     Scarce     Rare     Very rare     Extinct

Growth form :

Raunkiaer lifeform [info]: CHAMEOPHYTE (dwarf or small shrubs)
Germination [info]: Dicotyledon

Legal Protection [link]:

Not Protected by Law (LN200/2011 or LN311/2006)

Red List (1989) :

Not listed in the Red Data Book of the Maltese Islands

Flowering Time :

Apr-Oct

Colour of Flowers:

Violet

Remarks :

The hispid-pubescent stems and the trailing habitat are very distinctive for the species. Garden escape creeping and mat forming Mesemb with small finger-shaped leaves covered by tiny water cells and wood stepms with a hispid (bristly) indumentum.

Habitat in Europe:

Cultivated for ornament, and locally naturalized on coasts of W. Mediterranean region.

Preferred habitat in Malta:

Degraded areas or wasteground usually from dumped cultivated material, or abandoned cultivation

Botanical Description:

Stems erect or trailing, hispid, the lower branches sometimes rooting at the nodes. Leaves 1.2-3 cm, tuberculate-papillose, often reddish. Flowers solitary or 2 or 3 together, 2.5-3 cm in diameter; petals purple.

Distributional range:

West Mediterranean

Native region outside Europe:

(South Africa, Madagascar)

Distributional map in Europe
and the Mediterranean region (2018):

Occurrences in Europe.
(from Flora Europaea pre year 1993):

Introduced in  the Balaeric Islands, Spain (incl. Andorra but excl. the Balaerics), Italy (excl. Sicily and Sardignia)

Occurrences in Europe and the Mediterranean region.
(Euro+Med Checklist, 2017) - Country codes

[nBl Bl(M) Ca(T) nHs nIt]