The Morisia is endemic to the Sardinian-Corsican System. It grows in grassy places, in pastures, sometimes on the edge of country roads and in clearings of damp woods, on very fresh, mostly siliceous sandy soils, but sometimes also on calcareous rocks, from sea level to about 1200 m. The species is rare in the outer belt of the Sardinian temporary ponds but, when present, it forms large populations. It is a geocarpic plant that is incapable of dissemination at a distance: the fruiting peduncles fold down and push the fruit into the soil, where the maturation and germination of seeds take place. The genus is dedicated to Giuseppe Giacinto Moris (1796-1869), author of an important Flora of Sardinia; the species name derives from Greek and means 'with a single flower', in reference to the unbranched flower-peduncles. Flowering period: October to December (-May). |
