Family |
Boraginaceae
Anchusa azurea
Mill.
Anchusa azurea Mill.
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, Pl. XXXIX nº 2; 1983)
Life-form & habit: Erect to ascending perennial, 30–60 cm tall, coarsely hispid with long bristly hairs arising from tubercles; inflorescence a broad terminal panicle.
Leaves: Oblong to oblong-lanceolate and oblong-linear; basal leaves petiolate, upper leaves sessile. Surfaces coarsely hairy.
Inflorescence & flowers: Bracteate cymes in a terminal panicle. Bracts short; pedicels erect, equal to or longer than the calyx. Calyx lobes linear, acute, long, and densely hispid. Corolla large, vivid blue (rarely white or purplish), with a tube as long as the calyx and a broad limb 8–10 mm in diameter. Scales pectinate and exserted.
Fruit: Nucules 4, triangular, ca. 4 mm long, strongly wrinkled with papillose areoles.
Phenology: Flowers from May to June.
Habitat & elevation: Frequent in cultivated fields and fallow land; elevation range from coastal to montane zones.
Lebanese distribution: Confirmed from Saïda, Beirut, Batroun, Tripoli, ‘Asfouriyé, Jabal Jrid, Dimane, Qannoubine, Ehden, Şarada, and Ta'naïl.
Native range : Widely distributed across the Mediterranean basin and Western Asia, including Syria and Anatolia