Flora-Fauna

Astragalus kurnet-es-saudae Boiss.

(Diagn. Pl. Orient.; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2; 1969)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial dwarf chamaephyte forming dense, compact cushions; caudex woody, much-branched; stems very short, tightly packed, covered with dense silky to woolly hairs, giving a greyish to silvery aspect.

• Leaves : Imparipinnate, short; leaflets numerous (10–20 pairs), very small, oblong to elliptic (3–6 mm), densely sericeous on both surfaces; rachis and petiole similarly hairy; stipules membranous, adnate, also densely pubescent.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Axillary, very short racemes, few-flowered, often scarcely exceeding the leaves; peduncles short; flowers pale yellow to creamy-white; calyx tubular, densely villous with subulate teeth; corolla small, standard slightly longer than wings and keel.

• Fruit : Legumes small, ovoid, slightly inflated, densely pubescent, included or slightly exserted from the calyx; containing few seeds.

• Phenology : Flowers from June to August; fruiting from July to September.

• Habitat & elevation : High-mountain rocky slopes, screes, and windswept ridges on limestone; 2200–3000 m.

• Lebanese distribution : Endemic to the highest summits of Mount Lebanon, especially around Qurnat as Sawda.

• Native range : Lebanon-Syria.

• Conservation notes : Narrow endemic with very restricted range; vulnerable to climate change and high-altitude disturbance; Critically Endangered 

• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished by its dense cushion habit, very small silky leaflets, and adaptation to extreme alpine conditions; clearly separated from allied species by its high-altitude ecology and compact morphology.