This delightful, bright pink flower grows in the harsh, dry and sandy conditions on the coast of the Mediterranean region from the west (Portugal and Spain) as far east as Italy. It flowers from February until May. Malcolmia is a member of the Cabbage (Brassicaceae) family of plants formerly known as the Cruciferae.
Malcolmialittorea is a perennial plant with a lot of woody stalks at the base. Stalks are lying on the floor, have woody base, and they are from 10 to 40 cm long. They are ash-white colour and covered in dense off-white hairs or 'trichomes'. More or less oval leaves with margins (with or without teeth) lean on the stalks. Flowers display in groups of 5 to 20, and have some off-white cover. Their four petals are purple or lilac-pink. Seeds are small with dark chestnut colour and ovoid shape. Their surface is rough.
Malcolmialittoreais distributed all over Málaga county on coastal dunes, above all on secondary and grey dunes (those covered by a continuous layer of herbaceous vegetation), up to 600 m of altitude, although they can also be found in primary dunes or embryonic shifting dunes, where the wind is stronger and salinity is higher, and they can even live in rocky and stony areas.
