Dawn-glass Herb · Lavaricola aurorensis

A perennial 15–22 cm tall. It threads slender roots into cracks of black lava, growing along calcium-rich mineral veins. The leaves are thick blue-green ovals edged with a faint silver bloom. The flowers are a clear pale blue at night, taking on a soft apricot only before dawn and wilting rapidly before the rock dries.

Moving Image

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MOTION CLIP

Almost no one has seen its colour change.

This footage was made vertical (9:16) and is also published on social media. The archive keeps it in its original ratio.

9:16 VERTICALCLIPSOUND ON

Specimen Plates

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Field Note

Habitat

The edge of old lava slopes and laurel forest in the Canary Islands. In its short flowering season it appears in cracks of calcium-bearing, white-veined lava that dampen only on misty mornings.

Local name

Cup of the Dry Wind

Folklore

Locally it is told as a sign before dry wind descends over the mountains. On mornings when it turns apricot before dawn and quickly wilts, the mist at the forest edge is said to clear early.

Locator

Coordinates

28.3°N 16.6°W

The edge of old lava slopes and laurel forest in the Canary Islands

Record

Narration

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For only a few minutes before dawn, it changes colour.

Almost no one has seen that moment.

The old lava slopes of the Canary Islands.

At the edge where laurel-forest mist still lingers, the Dawn-glass Herb is said to appear.

Its leaves, rising from cracks of black rock, are blue-green, edged with a silver bloom.

By night the flower is a translucent pale blue.

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Classification

Classification & specimen data

Scientific name

Lavaricola aurorensis Y. Aoki, 2000

Taxonomy

Plantae › Angiosperms › Dicotyledons › Lavaricolales › Lavaricolaceae › Lavaricola › aurorensis

Voucher

AVF-003 · Holotype
Archive of Vanished Flora (AVF)

Conservation

✝ EX — Extinct Last seen 2003

Collector

N. Drei
1997-04-22

Synonym

Lavaropsis aurorensis T. Okabe, 1995

Protologue (Latin)

Herba perennis, rhizomate tenui, foliis linearibus, inflorescentia pauciflora. Typus: The edge of old lava slopes and laurel forest in the Canary Islands. Species iam extincta.

Discovered / Described

1997 / 2000

Height

15〜22cm

Life form

Perennial herb

Phyllotaxy

Alternate

Chromosome

2n = 20

Flowering

A few hours around dawn