Family |
Rosaceae
Rosa pulverulenta
M.Bieb.
Rosa pulverulenta M.Bieb.
(First published in Fl. Taur.-Caucas. 1: 399 (1808), Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. LXXI nº 5; 1969)
≡ Rosa glutinosa Sibth. & Sm. ≡ Rosa libanotica Boiss.
• Life-form & habit: Low, irregularly branched shrub, 20–50 (–100) cm tall, woody from base; stems tortuous, often forming dense patches. Branches bear two kinds of prickles — the stronger ones opposite, compressed and slightly recurved, the finer ones short, gland-tipped and sometimes replaced by setae.
• Leaves: With 5 leaflets, variably sized, both surfaces strongly glandular, otherwise glabrous or nearly so; margin doubly serrate. Stipules adnate to the petiole, with glandular margins.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers solitary or few together on pubescent and densely setose-glandular pedicels; calyx-tube densely setose, lobes strongly pubescent. Petals 5, pink. Stamens numerous.
• Fruit: Hips (6–10 mm diam.) globose to ovoid, red to black at maturity, usually bearing a few remaining glandular setae; sepals persistent.
• Phenology: Flowers and fruits June – July.
• Habitat & elevation: Mountain slopes and limestone hills, commonly on open terrains and among rocks; typically in the montane belt.
• Lebanese distribution: Recorded by Mouterde on Jabal Barouk, Jabal Kneissé, Jabal Sannine, the Cedars above Bcharré (Boissier, Ky, Mt), Ehden and Dimane to Yammouné, Qalaʿat ʿArrouba and Jabal Qammoua .
• Native range: Southern Europe and the Levant (Italy, Balkans, Crete, Türkiye, Lebanon, Syria, Ararat, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Baluchistan).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Distinguished by its low habit, strongly glandular foliage and calyx, and densely setose branches; transitional forms in Ehden once misidentified as R. micrantha are considered reduced states of this variable species