Matthiola maderensis

Matthiola maderensis Lowe, commonly known as Madeira sea stock, is a member of the Brassicaceae family and one of around 52 species in the genus Matthiola. It is related to the familiar garden stock (Matthiola incana) and is native to the Madeira archipelago, where it grows wild on cliffs and rocks in coastal zones.

The plant reaches up to 90cm in height, with upright branching stems tipped with racemes of highly scented mauve, purple and occasionally white flowers. It blooms from February through to summer. The long, elliptical, grey-green leaves are clustered at the base and reduce in size further up the stem. The stems are woody and covered with fine hairs, adaptations that help the plant withstand periods of drought. The seeds are borne in cylindrical pods around 1.5cm long, and all parts of the plant are toxic to animals.

The seeds of the related Matthiola incana have traditionally been used as aphrodisiac, diuretic, expectorant, stimulant and tonic. An infusion was once used to treat cancer, and when mixed with wine as an antidote to poisonous bites.

The genus name honours Pietro Andrea Mattioli, a sixteenth-century Italian physician and botanist. The author citation "Lowe" refers to Richard Thomas Lowe, the nineteenth-century British botanist who first formally named and described the species.

Matthiola maderensis is plant of the month for April at Malaga's Jardín Botánico Histórico La Concepción.