Flora-Fauna

Cnidium silaifolium (Jacq.) Simonk.

(First published as Selinum silaifolium Jacq., Fl. Austriac. 5: 12 (1778); comb. in Természetrajzi Füzetek 10: 198 (1887); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2; 1969)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial hemicryptophyte; stems erect, slender, striate, usually branched above, 40–100 cm tall, glabrous.

• Leaves : Alternate; lower leaves 2–3-pinnate with linear to filiform segments, giving a finely dissected aspect; upper leaves progressively reduced; surfaces glabrous.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Compound umbels with numerous rays; bracts few or absent; umbellules many-flowered; flowers small, white; petals obovate, inflexed at apex; stylopodium conical.

• Fruit : Schizocarps ovoid to oblong, laterally compressed, with prominent ribs; mericarps separating at maturity.

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

• Habitat & elevation : Moist meadows, stream margins, and humid montane grasslands; 1000–2200 m.

• Lebanese distribution : Local in high montane zones of Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon.

• Native range : Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lebanon-Syria, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine.

• Conservation notes : Not evaluated by IUCN; no specific threats documented in Lebanon, but dependent on humid habitats.

• Diagnostic remarks : Recognised by its finely dissected leaves and many-rayed umbels; differs from related taxa by its delicate foliage and ribbed fruits.