Flora-Fauna

Clinopodium vulgare L. subsp. orientale (Bothmer) Govaerts

(First published as Calamintha vulgaris subsp. orientalis Bothmer in Bot. Not. 126: 363 (1973); comb. in World Checklist Seed Pl. 3: 14 (1999); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2; 1969)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial hemicryptophyte; stems erect to ascending, 20–60 cm tall, usually branched above, quadrangular, pubescent with spreading hairs.

• Leaves : Opposite, petiolate; blades ovate to broadly ovate (1.5–4 cm), margins crenate to serrate; both surfaces pubescent, often slightly rugose, green.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Verticillasters axillary and terminal, forming interrupted spikes; bracts leaf-like; calyx tubular, 5-toothed, distinctly hairy; corolla bilabiate, pink to purplish, 8–12 mm long; stamens 4, didynamous.

• Fruit : Nutlets 4, small, smooth, enclosed within the persistent calyx.

• Phenology : Flowers from June to September.

• Habitat & elevation : Open woodlands, forest margins, rocky slopes and grasslands; 800–2000 m.

• Lebanese distribution : Widespread in montane regions of Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon; locally common.

• Native range : Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Türkiye.

• Conservation notes : Assessed as Least Concern (LC) according to IUCN criteria (as compiled in the Red List of the Vascular Flora of Lebanon); widespread and not currently threatened.

• Diagnostic remarks : Differs from the typical subspecies by its more pubescent indumentum and eastern Mediterranean distribution; characterised by its interrupted inflorescences and aromatic foliage typical of the genus.