Scientific name: | Paronychia argentea Lam. | |
Common name: | Silver nailroot, Silvery Whitlow Wort | |
Hebrew name: | אלמוות הכסף | |
Arabic name: | رجل الحمامة | |
Family: | Caryophyllaceae, ציפורניים |
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Life form: | Hemicryptophyte | |
Stems: | stems 15-30cm, usually creeping, much branched, mat forming | |
Leaves: | Opposite, ovate-lanceolate; entire margins | |
Flowers: | Inflorescence, cyme; 5 White, yellow petals | |
Fruits / pods: | Achenes | |
Flowering Period: | January, February, March, April | |
Habitat: | Batha, Phrygana | |
Distribution: | Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon | |
Chorotype: | Mediterranean | |
Summer shedding: | Perennating |
Derivation of the botanical name: Paronychia, Greek, para, by the side of, near; onyx, nail; "a whitlow," a painful abscess on the side of the nail at the end of a finger or toe. One of the common names for Paronychia is whitlow-wort, an herb thought to be a cure for whitlow. argentea, silvery. The Hebrew name:אלמות,אלמוות, almavet, in the Bible, Proverbs 12:28 "In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality". What makes the plant unique is not its white flowers, but the bracts that remain even after the flower's emergence - so it is called "immortal."
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