Family |
Asteraceae
Crepis sancta
(L.) Bornm.
Crepis sancta (L.) Bornm.
First published in Mitth. Thüring. Bot. Vereins, n.f., 30: 79 (1913).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 543–544; Pl. CCCXLVI, fig. 3a–b)
Description
Basionym and synonyms: Hieracium sanctum L.; Lagoseris sancta (L.) K.Malý; Pterotheca sancta (L.) K.Koch.
Habit and stems: Annual, 10–30 cm tall, covered with very short, white papillose hairs. Stems slender, branching in their upper part.
Leaves: Basal leaves arranged in a rosette, oblong, toothed or more or less lyrate, narrowing into a petiole. Stem leaves reduced to small, linear, bristle-like scales.
Flower heads: Capitula 8–12 mm. Outer involucral bracts short, triangular-lanceolate and distinctly margined, forming an involucel. Inner bracts linear, three to four times longer, becoming keeled in fruit, and either glabrous or glandular-hairy.
Fruits: Achenes of two forms: the inner ones cylindrical and ribbed; the marginal ones varying in shape and development of the wings between Mouterde’s subspecies, as detailed below.
Flowering and habitat
Flowering: December–May.
Habitat: Cultivated and waste ground; described by Mouterde as common. No numerical elevation range is given in this account.
Distribution
Historical Lebanese localities: Under subsp. sancta: Saida; between Saida and Qalaat ech-Chekif; Khaldé; Dékouané; Beirut; Hazmiyé; Hadeth railway station; Dbayé; mouth of the Qadicha; north of Damour; Bikfaya; Terbol village; Roueissat; Antoura; Akkar mountains and plain; Zahlé. Under subsp. obovata: Baalbeck.
Historical Syrian localities: Under subsp. sancta: below Saïdnaya; Damascus–Mezzé and Mezzé; Marj; Jabal Qasyoun; Dmeir; Bhamra; Laqbé; Hama; Homs; between Homs and Palmyra; Qaryatein; Ain el-Walb. Under subsp. obovata: Djerablous; Aleppo; between Homs and Tell Kalakh; Jabal Abou Ata; Jabal Dmeir; Jabal el-Qorn; between Mnine and Saïdnaya; Slenfé; Abou Tcheri; Ain Diwar; Soueida; Mezraa; Palmyra; south of Qaryatein.
Recorded location: Tannourine.
Native range: Europe to the Mediterranean and western Himalaya, and the Arabian Peninsula, according to POWO; Lebanon-Syria is included in the native range.
Introduced into: Central European Russia, Nepal and Poland, according to POWO.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Nomenclature. Mouterde cites the species as Crepis sancta (L.) Babcock. POWO accepts Crepis sancta (L.) Bornm., based on Hieracium sanctum L.
Mouterde’s subspecies. His subsp. sancta has whitish marginal achenes, linear to oblong-lanceolate, with wings developed to varying degrees, and a green style. His subsp. obovata (Boiss. & Noë) Babcock has yellow marginal achenes, linear and nearly cylindrical or flattened, without lateral wings, and a yellow style. These are the historical distinctions used for the locality records above; they do not establish a subspecific identification for the Tannourine plant. The entry is therefore retained at species rank.
Sources
Mouterde, Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 543–544, Pl. CCCXLVI, fig. 3a–b; Kew Plants of the World Online (consulted 1 October 2026).