Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv.

Adyseton halimifolium Link, Adyseton maritimum (L.) Link, Adyseton orbiculare Bubani, Alyssum halimifolium L., Alyssum halimifolium (All.) Willd. (illeg.), Alyssum maritimum (L.) Lam., Alyssum odoratum Voss, Anodontea halimifolia (DC.) Sweet, Clypeola halimifolia Link, Clypeola maritima Link, Clypeola maritima Link, Draba maritima (L.) Lam., Glyce maritima (L.) Lindl., Koniga maritima (L.) R. Br., Octadenia maritima (L.) Fisch. & C.A.Mey.

Brassicaceae

Alyssum, carpet of snow, sea alyssum, Seaside Lobularia, snowdrift, Sweet Alice, Sweet Alison, Sweet Alyssum

Alyssum is native to southern Europe (France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Albania and Greece), northern Africa (northern Algeria, Egypt, northern Libya, Morocco and Tunisia), the Azores, the Madeira Islands and the Canary Islands. It has naturalized in other areas in the world, including the United States, Australia, China and Taiwan and some Pacific Islands, e.g. Hawaii and New Caledonia. In Australia, it has widely naturalized in the coastal and subcoastal districts of southeastern Australia (in eastern New South Wales, southern Victoria, Tasmania, southeastern South Australia and southwest Western Australia) and in southeastern Queensland, on Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands.

Alyssum does best in areas with a Mediterranean climate where temperatures are mild in winter and warmer in summer and with autumn and spring rainfall and drier periods in summer. It is common on sandy beaches and dunes but can also grow in cultivated fields, stony areas, yards, walls, slopes and waste ground, preferably on calcareous soil, from sea level to 300 m (−2,000 m) altitude. It does well on free-draining sandy and sandy loam soils in full sun but will also grow in partial shade.

The young leaves, stems and flowers are used to flavour salads and other dishes where pungency is required (Facciola 1990).

An erect, ascending or procumbent, pubescent, annual to short-lived perennial herb, 10–30 cm (−40 cm) high with basal branching. Leaves are sessile, simple, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 1.5–5 cm long by 0.2–0.4 cm wide, pubescent, green, margin entire, base attenuated and apex acute to subacute (Plates 1, 2, 3 and 4). Inflorescence corymbose-globose, many-flowered and lax when fruiting. Flowers small, fragrant; sepals 1.5–2 mm long, pubescent; petals obovate or suborbicular, 2–3 by 1.5–2.5(−3) mm, clawed, white, pink, apricot, purple to deep purple; stamens short and long with nectar glands at the base and ovate anthers (Plates 1, 2, 3 and 4). Silicula obovate to suborbicular, 2.5–3.5 mm long, sparsely pubescent. Seeds one per locule, ellipsoidal, light to reddish brown, 1–1.5 mm.

Five nucleosides (deoxycytidine, 5-methyldeoxycytidine, deoxyadenosine, deoxyguanosine and thymidine) in the amount of 18.5 % were found in the DNA of Lobularia maritima (Wagner and Capesius 1981). The following flavonoids were isolated from the plant: kaempferol, kaempferol 7-rhamnoside, kaempferol 3-glucoside-7-rhamnoside, kaempferol 3-diglucoside and E-quercetin 7-glucoside (Matlawska et al. 1989). Sweet alyssum seed had been reported to contain high levels of 6-(methylthio)hexyl- and 6-(methylsulfinyl) hexyl glucosinolates, both of which yielded hydrolysis products of interest, 1-isothiocyanato-6-(methylthio) hexane (lesquerellin) and hesperin (Daxenbichler et al. 1991). Vaughn and Berhow (2005) found alyssum afforded high amounts of glucosinolate hydrolysis products: 3-butenyl isothiocyanate and lesquerellin.