Madeira stock
Matthiola maderensis
Family · Brassicaceae · Harmless
The wild stock of Madeiran cliffs, entirely covered in white felt, with purple or lilac four-petalled cross flowers and a strong scent at dusk.
Dunes and sand · Walls and rocks · Scrubland
Also known asMadeiran stock
How to tell it
A subshrub with a woody base, wholly covered in white branched hairs giving it a silver-grey tone. Elongated fleshy leaves with a wavy edge. Four-petalled cross flowers, purple to lilac, two to three centimetres, in racemes. Long slender pods. Range: endemic to Madeira.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
None. It is an endemic restricted to cliffs and escarpments of Madeira and Porto Santo, protected by law, and suffers from collecting for ornament and from trampling at viewpoints.
The law says
A protected species in Madeira. Do not pick it.