Family |
Fabaceae
Astragalus coluteoides
Willd.
Leb. Syr.
Astragalus coluteoides Willd.
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CXLII nº 3; 1983)
Life-form & habit: Very small subshrub, 10–30 cm tall, somewhat canescent.
Leaves: Closely spaced, imparipinnate and spiny, with 15–20 pairs of ovate to elliptical, obtuse, pubescent leaflets decreasing in size from base to apex. Stipules hyaline, undulate, shortly ovate.
Inflorescence & flowers: Scapiform peduncles equal in length to the leaves, bearing 1–6 subsessile flowers. Bracts ovate, fairly broad, caducous; bracteoles linear, short, ciliate.
Calyx: Reddish, about 1 cm long, with subacute teeth, exceeded by one-third by the pale pink corolla. After anthesis, the calyx becomes inflated and vesicular, flushed reddish and streaked with purple longitudinal lines.
Fruit: Not described in detail, but the calyx in fruit is described as vesicular.
Phenology: Flowers from May to August.Habitat & elevation: Mountain regions, especially lightly wooded areas.
Lebanese distribution: Mm. Ma‘asser ech-Chouf, Cedars of Barouk, Hasroun, Berkacha, Bechnata; E. of Douma, Cedars, Forest of Ehden; Me. Above the Cedars, Upper Makmel, toward Qornet es-Saouda, ‘Aqoura to Yammouné, above Ehden, Jabal Qarnita; Herm. Base of Hermon.
Syrian distribution: SE Hermon, Qala‘at Jendel; A.L. Ma‘aret el-Bach to Tala‘at Moussa, Jabal Halimé.
Native range: Endemic to Lebanon and Syria