Family |
Asteraceae
Crepis pulchra
L.
Crepis pulchra L.
(First published in Sp. Pl.: 805 (1753); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3; 1970)
• Life-form & habit : Annual therophyte; stems erect, slender, 20–60 cm tall, usually branched above, glabrous to sparsely pubescent.
• Leaves : Basal leaves in a rosette, oblanceolate to pinnatifid, 5–15 cm long; cauline leaves alternate, smaller, often clasping, entire to weakly lobed; surfaces glabrous or slightly hairy.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Capitula numerous, arranged in a loose corymbose panicle; involucre cylindrical; florets all ligulate, yellow, sometimes reddish beneath.
• Fruit : Achenes dimorphic; outer ones shorter, often lacking a pappus; inner ones longer, ribbed, with a well-developed white pappus.
• Phenology : Flowers from March to June.
• Habitat & elevation : Fields, roadsides, grasslands and disturbed habitats; 0–1500 m.
• Lebanese distribution : Widespread and common throughout Lebanon.
• Native range : Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, East Aegean Is., France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Morocco, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, Sicilia, Spain, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya.
• Diagnostic remarks : Recognised by its branched inflorescence and dimorphic achenes; distinguished from other Crepis species by the presence of outer achenes without a pappus and inner ones with a well-developed pappus.