Flora-Fauna

Allium libani var. tannourinensis auct.

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. LXXXVIII nº 1; 1966 — the varietal rank is not separated by Mouterde; description below follows the typical species)

• Life-form & habit : bulbous perennial geophyte; scape so short that the dense umbel seems to sit just above a flat rosette of leaves

• Bulb & tunics : subspherical bulbs 1–3 cm Ø; inner tunics white-hyaline, outer tunics grey- to brown-black

• Leaves : 3–4 basal blades, spreading and almost prostrate, lanceolate, flat but slightly incurved and undulate, edged by a very narrow cartilaginous band; only a few cm shorter than the inflorescence

• Scape : stout, remaining subterranean up to the insertion of the leaves, finally overtopping them by a few centimetres

• Spathe : 2–3 valves (often partly united), just reaching or a little shorter than the umbel

• Inflorescence (umbel) : hemispherical, very dense, bearing c. 20–50 flowers FloraFaunacnrs.edu.lb

• Perianth : tepals white (turning straw-yellow on drying), 5–6 mm long, lanceolate-acute, sometimes with a faint pale-reddish mid-stripe; connate at the very base 

• Androecium & gynoecium : filaments broad-triangular and united at base; style longer than stamens 

• Phenology : flowering May – June 

• Habitat : rocky montane slopes, open cedar or juniper glades, alpino-subalpine grassland 

• Elevation : recorded by Mouterde from ~1500 m to above 2700 m on Mount Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon and Hermon; populations around Tannourine fall within this range.

• Native range : endemic to Lebanon and Syria (Mount Lebanon range, Anti-Lebanon, Jabal Hermon) 

• Remarks : the epithet tannourinensis refers to the Tannourine Cedar Reserve in North Lebanon. Mouterde did not recognise this variety and gives no separate diagnostic features; later Lebanese authors list it as an extremely local endemic without providing clear morphological distinctions