This annual plant with a mainly western, strictly Mediterranean distribution, is present in Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Campania Apulia, Sardinia and Sicily, but is generally quite rare and most widespread along the Tyrrhenian coast. The life-cycle can be spent part in water, part on moist to dry soil. It grows near springs, along ditches, on the edges of ephemeral pools, from sea level to about 1000 m, with optimum in the Mediterranean belt. It is a characteristic species of the Mediterranean temporary ponds of Sardinia, being commonly found in the outer belt. The genus name derives from the Greek 'solen' (channel, tube) and 'ops' (appearance, similarity), referring to the corolla fitted with a well-developed tube; The species is dedicated to M. A. Laurenti (early XIX cent.), professor of Medicine at Bologna and friend of the great botanist Pier Antonio Micheli. Flowering period: May to August. Syn.: Laurentia gasparrinii (Tineo) Strobl

Italian name(s): Laurenzia comune (Italia), Solenopsis laurenzia (Italia).