Flora-Fauna

Colchicum szovitsii Fisch. & C.A.Mey. subsp. brachyphyllum (Boiss.) K.Perss.

(First published as Colchicum brachyphyllum Boiss., Diagn. Pl. Orient. ser. 2, 4: 104 (1859); current placement in Colchicum szovitsii complex; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1; 1966, as Colchicum libanoticum)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial bulbous geophyte; corm ovoid, enveloped in dark brown fibrous tunics; flowering hysteranthous, with flowers appearing before the leaves.

• Leaves : Produced after flowering, 3–5, relatively short and broad for the group, linear to lanceolate, 8–18 cm long, glabrous, forming a compact basal tuft.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Flowers solitary or few, emerging in autumn; perianth funnel-shaped, pale lilac to pink, often with a whitish throat; tube long; segments 6, oblong; stamens 6, shorter than the perianth segments.

• Fruit : Capsule ovoid, developing at ground level among the leaves in spring; seeds numerous.

• Phenology : Flowers from September to November; fruiting from March to May.

• Habitat & elevation : Rocky slopes, open grasslands and montane clearings, often on limestone; 1000–2000 m.

• Lebanese distribution : Mount Lebanon range, especially in high montane zones; formerly treated as an endemic under Colchicum libanoticum.

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

• Diagnostic remarks : Part of the Colchicum szovitsii complex; distinguished by its relatively short, broader leaves and montane Lebanese populations; historically treated as the endemic C. libanoticum, now included within a wider taxonomic concept.