Wallflower
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| Missing image Erysimum-scoparium.jpg Teide Wallflower Erysimum scoparium (Teide Wallflower) | ||||||||||||
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Erysimum ammophilum |
The genus Erysimum includes the wallflowers, which include both popular garden species and many wild forms. There are about 80 species, native to southwest Asia, the Mediterranean region, Macaronesia, and North America. They are small, short-lived perennial herbs or sub-shrubs, reaching 10-130 cm tall, with bright yellow to red or pink flowers produced throughout the spring and summer.
Several are endemic to small areas, such as the Teide Wallflower E. scoparium, endemic to the Teide volcano on Tenerife, the Franciscan wallflower, E. franciscanum, endemic to the northern California coast, and the endangered Santa Cruz wallflower, E. teretifolium, endemic to the inland sandhills of Santa Cruz County, California.
Cultivation
ErysimumChelseaJacket.jpg
Most garden wallflower cultivars (including e.g. Erysimum 'Chelsea Jacket', left) are derived from E. cheiri, from southern Europe. Growth is best in dry soils with very good drainage, and they are often grown successfully in loose wall mortar, whence the vernacular name.