Arabis purpurea, in Troodos mountains, Cyprus

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MikeHardman

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Arabis purpurea, in Troodos mountains, Cyprus
« on: April 08, 2012, 07:32:17 AM »
These lovely plants are common on shaded rocky roadside cliffs along the Troodos ridge road, by other roads at highish altitudes. I photographed these particular ones just east of Stavros tis Psokas, yesterday. Although they are common, many apparently-suitable cliffs have none of them. As far as I can tell, it is not a matter of rock type, but more a matter of age of the exposure, proximity to existing colonies, and perhaps degree of dampness.

In the first photo, there is a cushion in the middle of the bottom-right quarter.

The flowers are usually pale purple, but sometimes they are white (and not due to fading) - see last photo.
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England