Family |
Asteraceae
Anthemis chia
L.
Anthemis chia L.
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, Pl. CCXXVII nº 1; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Almost glabrous or sparsely hairy annual, with usually multiple, erect or ascending, simple or slightly branched stems, 20–40 cm tall.
Leaves: Petiolate, ovate in outline, bipinnatisect into short, oblong, acute, divergent lobes, often 3–5-fid and slightly decurrent.
Inflorescence & flowers: Long, non-thickened peduncles bearing capitula 1–1.5 cm across without ray florets, 4–5 cm with them. Bracts glabrous or nearly so, green with a dark scarious margin; outer bracts triangular, inner ones oblong-linear. Ray florets white, elliptic-linear, up to 2 cm long. Disc florets with an inflated tube exceeding the achene. Receptacle hemispheric with caducous, linear-oblong, acute paleae longer than the disc.
Fruit: Achenes cylindrical with strong ribs; outer achenes slightly recurved and often with a hyaline auricle as long as the body; disc achenes with a short crown or auricle.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowers from December to May.
Habitat & elevation: Very common in Mediterranean regions of Lebanon.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Khaldé, Hadeth, Beirut, Nahr el-Kelb.
Native range: Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Lebanon