I found this plant growing on Mount Vesuvius, both at the staging area before the ascent to the top of the crater and along the path to the peak. The thin-petaled yellow flowers remind me of evening primrose, very delicate, 5-7 cm diameter flowers. The leaves are very distinctly blue. The seed pods are long (10-35 cm, usually curled, sometimes recurved, making bends of 30-400 degrees. The seeds are small (2-3 mm long) black, oblong and partially covered with a tan colored sheath. The plants were growing at around 1000 meters elevation and the coordinates are 40.821°N, 14.426°E Nearby Napoli (Naples), Italy is listed as climatic zone 10, near the zone 9 end of the map, so, I suppose the elevation would create zone 8 (?) conditions. What other information can I provide that would be helpful in identifying this plant? Thank you for any help you can provide in helping me identify this fascinating plant. Charles
Glaucium flavum? Edit: and I do grow it in Zone 8 by the way, where it seems to either self-seed or be hardy as a biennial.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Amazing how our collective knowledge linked with this site makes identification possible. Please, could you tell me if the seeds of your G. flavum are the same as or similar to the image from the USDA site? http://plants.usda.gov/java/imageGa...eSelect=all&cite=all&viewsort=15&sort=sciname The leaves and flowers match well enough, but there is a distinct difference in the seed, which, in the Vesuvio plants that I saw, are smooth, black and symetrically eliptical. Perhaps USDA has attributed the seed of a related species to G. Flavum. Thank you, Charles
I'm afraid I never looked closely at my seed, and don't have any pods lying around the yard any more to check. I can certainly watch for them next season though, as a clump or two of leaves should bloom this year. Is it possible the seed evolves through the shape you saw to the one shown by the USDA?
Hmmmm...good thinking! But I don't think so as the seeds that I saw were in mature pods. Let me see if I can come up with a picture of seeds. Thanks for your reply. Charles
