Heath-leaved fumana
Fumana ericifolia
Family · Cistaceae · Harmless
The fumana with needle leaves so fine it looks like a heath, clinging to limestone slabs and skeletal soils. It is woody and fits in the palm of a hand.
Where it grows
Scrubland · Uplands · Walls and rocks
Also known asheath fumana
In flower
How to tell it
Very narrow, almost cylindrical leaves, alternate along thin branches, heath-like. Small yellow flowers with five fragile petals. It is told from the common fumana by its alternate rather than opposite leaves.
What it is confused with
Thyme-leaved fumana
Fumana thymifolia
Note how the leaves come out: opposite, in pairs, on the common fumana; alternate, one at a time, here. Both harmless.
Open sheet →What it is for
No use. An indicator of shallow, very dry limestone, and good company to the common fumana, with which it shares the same handspan of rock.