Flora-Fauna

Astragalus schizopterus Boiss.

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

• Life-form & habit : Perennial chamaephyte forming low, diffuse tufts; caudex woody, branched; stems ascending to prostrate, covered with appressed to spreading hairs, giving a greyish-green aspect.

• Leaves : Imparipinnate; leaflets numerous (12–25 pairs), small, oblong to elliptic (4–10 mm), densely pubescent, often silvery; rachis and petiole hairy; stipules membranous, partly adnate.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Axillary racemes, moderately elongated, several-flowered; peduncles equalling or exceeding the leaves; flowers pale yellow to creamy; calyx tubular, densely hairy with narrow subulate teeth; standard slightly exceeding wings and keel.

• Fruit : Legumes oblong, distinctly compressed and often somewhat winged or split along the sutures, sparsely to densely pubescent; containing several seeds.

• Phenology : Flowers from April to June; fruiting from May to July.

• Habitat & elevation : Dry rocky slopes, steppe habitats, and open limestone terrains; 800–1800 m.

• Lebanese distribution : Likely present in the Beqa‘a plain margins and Anti-Lebanon slopes; scattered and local.

• Native range : Cyprus, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Türkiye.

• Conservation notes : Not formally assessed; populations probably fragmented and locally uncommon.

• Diagnostic remarks : Recognised by its relatively elongated racemes and characteristic compressed, often winged legumes; differs from related species by fruit morphology and less compact habit.