Malcolmia maritima

Virginia stock
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Malcolmia
Species: M. maritima
Binomial name
Malcolmia maritima
(L.) Ait. f.

Malcolmia maritima, Virginia stock is a popular annual garden plant from the family Brassicaceae. A beautiful and profusely flowering annual, it is probably one of the easiest of all plants to grow. Growing to about 6-12 inches tall (15–30 cm), it makes a mass of pink, purple and white fragrant four petalled (cruciform) flowers. It is native in Greece and Albania and may be naturalized elsewhere in Mediterranean Europe[1] where it occurs in maritime sandy habitats and in waste places.

Cultivation

For best results in growing Virginia stock, sow on the surface in patches or rows and thin the young plants to 6 inches apart. It prefers full to partial sun and well drained soils.[2]

Varieties

There is a fair amount of variation in cultivated material, particularly with regard to stature and flower colour (variously violet, purple, lavender, pink).

References

  1. ↑ Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964–1980. Flora europaea
  2. ↑ Huxley, A. (ed.) 1992. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening
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