Flora-Fauna

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

(First published in Feddes Repert. 94: 152 (1983); basionym Hippomarathrum boissieri Reut. & Hausskn. ex Boiss., first published in Fl. Orient. 2: 933 (1872); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CCLXXVI nº 2; 1970, as Hippomarathrum boissieri Reut. & Hausskn.) (Plants of the World Online)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial herb, 50–80 cm tall; stem striate, branching in whorls.

• Leaves : Leaves with very short, spreading pubescence; radical leaves petiolate, ample, divided into usually short filiform lobes; cauline leaves sessile and reduced.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Umbels with 4–5, sometimes up to 7, short rays; involucre and involucel lanceolate and very short; petals puberulent outside.

• Fruit : Fruit broader than long, paired, with thick, obtuse, verrucose ribs; calyx teeth obtuse.

• Phenology : Flowers from June to August.

• Habitat & elevation : Rocky slopes and arid places, in middle mountain, Mediterranean continental, Hermon, Syrian and Anti-Lebanon localities.

• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from ‘Aïn Zehalta, above Bcharré, Zahlé, Ksara, Hermon, Aiha, Rachaya, around Baalbeck, Ouadi Taniyat-er-Ras and Cha‘ara de Baalbeck.

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

• Diagnostic remarks : Treated by Mouterde under Hippomarathrum boissieri Reut. & Hausskn.; POWO currently accepts Bilacunaria boissieri (Reut. & Hausskn. ex Boiss.) Pimenov & V.N.Tikhom., with Hippomarathrum boissieri and Cachrys boissieri as homotypic synonyms. It is separated in Mouterde’s key from Hippomarathrum crispum by its very shortly hispid leaves, externally puberulent petals, short 4–5-rayed umbels, very short lanceolate involucre and involucel, and obtuse calyx teeth; H. crispum has glabrous petals and usually 7–12-rayed umbels. (Plants of the World Online)