Flora-Fauna

Crepis robertioides Boiss.

(First published in Diagn. Pl. Orient. 11: 59 (1849); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3; 1970)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial hemicryptophyte to low chamaephyte; stems ascending to erect, often several from a woody base, 15–40 cm tall, sparsely to densely pubescent.

• Leaves : Basal leaves in a loose rosette, oblanceolate to oblong, entire to sinuate-dentate or weakly pinnatifid; cauline leaves smaller, alternate, sessile to shortly clasping; surfaces green to grey-green, sparsely hairy.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Capitula solitary or few, borne on slender peduncles; involucre cylindrical to campanulate, with narrow bracts; florets all ligulate, yellow.

• Fruit : Achenes narrow, ribbed, slightly attenuate at apex, with a pappus of white bristles.

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

• Habitat & elevation : Rocky limestone slopes, montane grasslands and open highland habitats; mainly 1200–2200 m.

• Lebanese distribution : Local in the mountains of Lebanon and Syria; in Lebanon mainly in montane to high-montane limestone habitats.

• Native range : Lebanon-Syria.

• Conservation notes : Assessed as Endangered (EN) according to IUCN criteria; a narrow Levantine endemic threatened by habitat degradation and disturbance of montane habitats.

• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished from related Crepis species by its perennial habit, narrow montane range and relatively few-headed inflorescence; close to other eastern Mediterranean perennial Crepis but separable by its woody-based habit and local endemic distribution.