Flora-Fauna

Astragalus trifoliolatus Boiss.
(Diagn. Pl. Orient. 2: 48, 1843; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 361; 1966)

• Life-form & habit: Small perennial forming mats; stems prostrate to ascending, densely leafy.
• Leaves: Typically trifoliolate (rarely with 4 leaflets); leaflets elliptic to oblong, densely silky-pubescent on both surfaces. Stipules triangular, membranous, adnate at the base.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Small capitula with few flowers. Bracts short, narrowly lanceolate. Calyx tubular, densely covered with appressed hairs, teeth shorter than the tube. Corolla whitish to pale yellow, slightly exceeding the calyx.
• Fruit: Pod oblong, compressed, hairy, shortly mucronate.
• Phenology: Flowers March–April .
• Habitat & elevation: Subarid and steppe margins.
• Lebanese distribution: Baalbeck (incl. ‘Ain Bourdaï, Yafoufa), Ras Baalbeck, Ouadi-el-Harir, route de Yanta .
• Syrian distribution: Bloudane, Deir ‘Atiyé, Qastal, Ouadi Barada, Damascus to Anti-Lebanon, Cha‘af .
• Native range: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon–Syria (POWO).