Sweet Alyssum

Description:

It is an annual plant, growing to 10-30 cm tall. The stem is very branched, with dense clusters of small flowers. The leaves are 1-4 cm long and 3-5 mm, broad, alternate, sessile, quite hairy, oval to lanceolate, with an entire margin. The flowers are about 5 millimetres (0.20 in) of diameter, sweet-smelling, with four white rounded petals (or pink, rose-red, violet and lilac) and four sepals. The six stamens have yellow anthers. The flowers are produced throughout the growing season, or year-round in areas free of frost. The flowering period usually extends from March-April through September. They are pollinated by insects (entomophily). The fruits are numerous elongated seedpods rather hairy, oval to rounded, each containing two seeds. The dispersal of seed is granted by the wing (anemochory) This plant is native to the Mediterranean region and it is also present in Macaronesia (Canary Islands, Azores) and in France in the Bay of Biscay, it is naturalized elsewhere.

Habitat:

It is common on sandy beaches and dunes, but can also grow on cultivated fields, walls, slopes and waste ground, preferably on calcareous soil, at an altitude of 0–300 metres (0–980 ft) above sea level.