Aubretia

Aubrieta deltoidea, commonly known as aubretia or purple rockcress, is a low, mat-forming evergreen perennial herb of the family Brassicaceae native to southeastern Europe, especially the Balkans, Greece, and adjacent western Asia. From a slightly woody base it produces dense, spreading cushions of small, spoon-shaped to obovate grey-green leaves that are softly hairy and may be entire or have a few coarse teeth toward the tip. In spring it bursts into masses of cross-shaped four-petalled flowers about 1.5 cm across, typically in shades of violet, lavender, purple, or rose-pink, borne on short stalks just above the foliage. The fruits are short, inflated, hairy siliques up to about 2 cm long containing several flattened seeds. Long cultivated as a rock-garden, wall, and edging plant, it has naturalised widely in temperate regions and is available in many named cultivars.