The Angular Spike of L’Aquila

Habit: A perennial herb with a basal rosette of leaves pressed to the ground and a flowering scape up to 40 cm tall. Leaves: Leathery, spatulate to oblanceolate, often ending in a small mucro. Green-glaucous in colour, often covered by a thin saline or calcareous secretion. Flowers: Arranged in a corymbose inflorescence resembling an umbel. Flowers grouped in single-flowered spikelets, protected by pubescent-glandular, strongly keeled bracts. Fruits: A single-seeded achene, typical of the family, protecting the seed until dispersal. Flowering: June-July.

Chorological type: Italian endemic. Distribution: An extremely rare Abruzzo endemic, restricted to very few sites near the city of L’Aquila. Habitat: It grows in steppe-like grasslands and dry mountain meadows on calcareous substrates, between 700 and 800 m above sea level.

Generic name (Goniolimon): From the Greek gonia, meaning “angle”, and limon, meaning “meadow” or “marsh plant”, in reference to the related genus Limonium. The name highlights the angular shape of the flowering stems. Specific name (tataricum): Refers to Tartary, the vast region of Central and Eastern Asia; however, the Italian entity is now recognized as a distinct subspecies. Subspecific name (italicum): A geographical adjective identifying Italy as the area of origin.

Aquila sea lavender represents one of the most threatened and precious botanical entities of the Italian flora. As a point endemic restricted to an extremely small area, it is classified as Critically Endangered in regional and national Red Lists. The survival of its populations depends on protecting the calcareous grasslands around L’Aquila from urbanization, abandonment of traditional grazing practices and the expansion of built-up areas.