Flora-Fauna

Barbarea macrocarpa (Boiss. & Heldr.) Al-Shehbaz & Jacquemoud
(Candollea 55: 202; 2000)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial hemicryptophyte; stems erect to ascending, simple below and branched above, glabrous or nearly so, forming loose montane clumps.

• Leaves : Basal leaves lyrate to pinnatifid with a large terminal lobe and smaller lateral lobes; cauline leaves alternate, smaller, oblong to lanceolate, sessile to shortly auriculate at base; surfaces glabrous, green.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Terminal racemes, dense at anthesis, elongating in fruit; flowers yellow; sepals erect; petals 4, obovate; stamens 6, tetradynamous.

• Fruit : Siliques linear, relatively large, erect to slightly spreading, glabrous, with a short persistent style; seeds uniseriate.

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

• Habitat & elevation : Moist montane habitats, shaded rocky slopes, spring-fed areas and open woodland margins; 1400–2000 m.

• Lebanese distribution : Endemic to Mount Lebanon, recorded from Sannine, Ehden and Barouk.

• Native range : Lebanon.

• Conservation notes : Assessed as Endangered (EN) according to IUCN criteria (as compiled in the Red List of the Vascular Flora of Lebanon); threatened by habitat degradation, grazing pressure and alteration of humid montane microhabitats.

• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished from other Barbarea species by its endemic Lebanese distribution, robust habit and relatively large siliques.