Family |
Asteraceae
Cousinia libanotica
DC.
Endemic to Lebanon
Cousinia libanotica DC.
(Prodr. 6: 556, 1838; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 452; Pl. CCLVIII nº 3; 1966)
• Life-form & habit: Robust perennial, 40–100 cm, erect, with stout branched stems, clothed in a dense whitish tomentum.
• Leaves: Basal leaves oblong-lanceolate, pinnatifid with large triangular lobes, spiny-mucronate, densely canescent on both surfaces; cauline leaves smaller, sessile, partly decurrent, ending in rigid yellowish spines.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Capitula solitary or in small groups at branch ends, 3–4 cm across (excluding spines). Involucral bracts numerous, densely imbricate; outer ones ovate, with a broad scarious margin and ending in a strong spine; median bracts longer, rigid, with a stout erect spine; inner bracts scarious, shorter, obtuse. Florets purple, showy.
• Fruit: Achenes brown, striate, with a short pappus of scales.
• Phenology: Flowers July–August.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky montane slopes and open highlands, typically above 1,500 m.
• Lebanese distribution: Endemic to Mount Lebanon — recorded from Bcharré, Ehden, Qornet es-Saouda, Barouk, and surrounding high mountains.
• Native range: Endemic to Mount Lebanon (POWO).
⚠️ Author’s note (https://www.florafauna.life/cousinia-libanotica):
It is now evident that Cousinia libanotica is a true Mount Lebanon endemic, morphologically distinct from both C. dayi Post and C. ramosissima DC. While these three species were historically intermingled in floristic treatments, detailed fieldwork and photographic evidence confirm that C. libanotica has unique characters: larger, solitary capitula with conspicuously broad scarious involucral margins, and a restricted high-mountain range in Mount Lebanon. This supports its recognition as a separate, localized taxon of conservation concern.