Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Mediterranean coastal
Range: Mediterranean Basin
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

Sweet alyssum is a low-growing Mediterranean flowering plant that blankets itself in dense clusters of tiny white or lavender blooms with a distinct honey-sweet scent. A single mature plant can carry thousands of four-petaled flowers at once, making it one of the best nectar sources for hoverflies and small bees in the garden.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Lobularia
Species: Lobularia maritima