Family |
Caryophyllaceae
Cerastium fragillimum
Boiss.
Cerastium fragillimum Boiss.
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. CLXIII nº 3; 1966)
Life-form & habit: Viscid annual herb, 5–20 cm tall; stems ascending, brittle.
Leaves: Lower leaves spatulate, attenuate into a petiole; upper leaves oblong, sessile.
Inflorescence & flowers: Loose cyme with 2–3 short-branched axes; bracts green, herbaceous.
Pedicels: Slender, 2–3× longer than the calyx, reflexed at fruiting.
Sepals: Oblong, acute, with very narrow scarious margins.
Petals: White, slightly shorter than the calyx, linear-oblong, narrowed at the base, shortly bidentate at apex.
Filaments: Glabrous.
Fruit: Capsule incurved, twice the length of the calyx.
Seeds: Large, strongly tuberculate.
Phenology: Flowers from April to June.
Habitat & elevation: Rocky habitats in montane areas.
Lebanese distribution: Mm. Cedars (Bl.), Cedars of Hadeth, Jourd Dimane, Sir-ed-Denniyé, Khan Sannine, Qamou‘a Forest, ‘Aïn Saoua‘ir, Col de Zahlé, Jabal Kneissé; Ve. above Zahlé.
Syrian distribution: A.L. above Zebdani, Jabal Gharbi, Ouadi el-Qam.
Native range: Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Transcaucasus, Türkey. (KEW)