Flora-Fauna

Bilacunaria boissieri (Reut. & Hausskn. ex Boiss.) Pimenov & V.N.Tikhom.

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 425; 1966)

• Life-form & habit: Herbaceous perennial with creeping or subterranean rhizomes; stems branched, diffusely spreading, 20–40 cm, often narrowly winged, glabrescent or with sparse hairs.
• Leaves: Stipules semi-hastate, exceeding the petiole. Leaflets oblong-lanceolate to linear, upper ones ending in simple or weakly branched tendrils.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Peduncles 2–3 cm, articulated above the middle, bearing 1-flowered umbels with 2 small bracteoles. Calyx with teeth much longer than the tube, ciliate. Corolla glabrous, red-brick, about twice as long as the calyx. Standard large, wings shorter, keel weakly angled.
• Fruit: Pods up to 25 mm, brownish-yellow; upper suture narrowly winged, often appearing tricarinate; surface reticulate, densely covered with tubercles and coarse hairs. Seeds 3, dark brown, slightly compressed and angled, smooth, with ovate hilum.
• Phenology: Flowers in April–May.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky habitats and basaltic terrains between Tripoli and Homs.
• Lebanese distribution: Jabal Kneissé, Dahr el-Baïdar, Zahlé to Hazerta, Ksara; Baalbeck (Beqaa).
• Syrian distribution: Latakia–Banias, Homs, Tell ‘Aqibrin, Damascus (Jabal Krim, Ghabagheb), Qanaouat, Saouet el-Khodor, Tell Qpuleib.
• Native range: Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Turkey (POWO).

⚠️ Taxonomic note: Mouterde treated this species under Peucedanum boissieri Boiss., later transferred to Bilacunaria by Pimenov & Tikhomirov.