Family |
Amaryllidaceae
Allium longispathum
Redouté
Allium longispathum Sam.
≡ Allium dentiferum Boiss.
(Taxon, vol. 57(2): 648; 2008 & Fl. Orient. vol. 5: 237; 1884)
Life-form & habit: Perennial geophyte with a solitary ovoid bulb, 1.5–2.5 cm in diameter; tunics papery, brownish. Scape erect, cylindrical, glabrous, 25–45 cm tall.
Leaves: 3–4, linear, flat, shorter than the scape, 4–8 mm wide, slightly canaliculate, glabrous.
Spathe: Bivalved; valves long-acuminate, nearly equal or slightly exceeding the umbel at anthesis.
Inflorescence & flowers: Umbel lax, many-flowered. Pedicels slender, unequal, longer than the perianth.
Perianth: Campanulate, tepals pale lilac to pinkish, 4.5–6 mm long; outer tepals lanceolate, slightly keeled; inner tepals broader and obtuse.
Stamens: Filaments subulate, slightly shorter than the tepals; anthers yellow.
Ovary: Obovoid, smooth; style shortly exserted.
Fruit: Capsule trilobed, not exceeding the perianth.
Phenology: Flowers from May to June.
Habitat & elevation: Rocky and grassy slopes, open mountain woodlands and clearings, on limestone or basaltic substrates; 1,300–1,900 m elevation.
Lebanese distribution: Confirmed from Jabal Sannine, Barouk, Dahr el-Baidar, Falougha, and Qammoua.
Native range: Algeria, Baleares, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Madeira, Morocco, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Tunisia, Türkey. (KEW)
Introduced into: Azores, California, South Australia. (KEW)