Sweet alyssum
Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv.
- light
- Full sun
- water
- Little
- tall
- 10 cm
- wide
- 23 cm
Brassicaceae
Also called Alyssum, Sweet alison, Seaside Lobularia
Formerly Adyseton maritimum, Alyssum maritimum, Clypeola maritima, Draba maritima, and 3 more
When it flowers
Flowers March to August and October to November in the tropics.
Read from iNaturalist photographs of it in flower. A month counts at 50% of the best month's flowering share (smoothed over three months) and 10% of its flowering count, from at least 100 flowering observations in the band.
If a child, a pet or anyone may have eaten a plant, contact a doctor or vet straight away, or call the National Poisons Information Centre (AIIMS, New Delhi) on 1800 116 117, free and open 24 hours.
Something wrong with it?About it
- Grows as
- Annual or subshrubKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Climate
- TemperateKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Wild in
- W. & C. Medit. to SinaiKew's checklist, not yet checked
- Light
- Full sun (6 h or more)Read from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension full, part; RHS full
- Height
- 10 cmRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 3–10 in; RHS 10–10 cm
- Spread
- 15 cm to 30 cmRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension 6–12 in; RHS 0.1–0.5 m
- Water
- Little: takes droughtRead from NC State Extension and RHS, not yet checked: its sources are splitTied: no reading has a majority of the 2 sources, so all are kept for a person to settle. Sources differ: NC State Extension low; RHS medium
- Flowers
- WhiteRead from NC State Extension and RHS, checked by a majority of its sourcesBacked by both sources. Sources differ: NC State Extension purple, white; RHS white
- Coldest it survives
- -5 °C (USDA zone 9a)Read from RHS, one source
Not known yet: heat, hottest it survives.
Grow it with
Suggested by a rule, not by a gardener: same climate (kew), flowering when this plant does not (inaturalist), and a different shape.
ElderFlowers September and December to February, when this does not
Memorial RoseFlowers September and December to February, when this does not
PomegranateFlowers September and December to February, when this does not
PurslaneFlowers September and December to February, when this does not
Tree RhododendronFlowers September and December to February, when this does not
Black cherryFlowers December to February, when this does not
In other languages (12)
- Spanish
- Bola mediterránea de hilo, aliso de mar, espuma de leche
- root
- LOBMAR
- Portuguese
- alisso
- French
- alysson maritime, Lobulaire maritime
- German
- Strand-Silberkraut, Strandkresse, Duftsteinrich
- Czech
- tařicovka přímořská
- Dutch
- Zilverschildzaad
- Catalan
- Caps blancs
- Norwegian Bokmål
- silkedodre
- Finnish
- tuoksupielus
- Russian
- Лобулярия приморская
- Lithuanian
- Pajūrinis laibenis, Pajūrinė lobuliarija
Where this comes from
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0 (observation counts)
- Wikidata, read 2026-10-24, CC0-1.0
- Kew's checklist, read 2026-10-24, CC-BY-4.0
- NC State Extension, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- RHS, read 2026-10-25, fact, cited
- Wikimedia Commons, read 2026-10-24, CC BY-SA 4.0
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC BY
- iNaturalist, read 2026-10-25, CC0
- 3D model: Lobularia maritima (built for Vanagrha) by Vanagrha, own
A fact “checked by a majority of its sources” was settled by a vote of the pages it was read from, not by a person reading it; one marked “one source” rests on that page alone. Anything else not marked checked has not been checked yet. Where nothing is known, the page says so rather than guess.