Family |
Fabaceae
Astragalus bethlehemiticus
Boiss.
Leb. Syr. Tur. Pal.
Astragalus bethlehemiticus Boiss.
(Diagn. Pl. Orient. 9: 85, 1849; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 353; Pl. CXXXVII nº 1; 1966)
• Life-form & habit: Dwarf suffruticose shrub, 10–30 cm tall, much-branched.
• Leaves: With 4 (rarely 5) pairs of leaflets, 2–4 cm long, densely tomentose. Leaflets 3–5 mm, oblong, mucronulate, covered with silky white hairs. Stipules ovate, shortly triangular, winged at the apex, tomentose.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Fascicles of c. 5 flowers forming small capitula at branch tips. Bracts broadly ovate-concave, shortly mucronate, tomentose, longer than the calyx tube. Calyx white, very hispid, with teeth three times as long as the tube. Corolla pale pink.
• Phenology: Flowers June–August.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry mountain habitats and arid regions.
• Lebanese distribution: Deir el-Qamar, Cedars of Bsharré, Ouadi Fissene, Ouadi Ibrissa, Baalbeck, Ras Baalbeck, Rachaya.
• Syrian distribution: Bloudane, Zebdani–Rachaya, Ouadi Barada, Damascus, Dimas, Mayssaloun, Homs plain, Chahba, Qastal, Tell Chihane, Tell Jinah, Kafer.
• Native range: Lebanon–Syria, Palestine, Turkey (POWO).