Flora-Fauna

Crucianella macrostachya Boiss.

First published in Diagnoses Plantarum Orientalium 3: 27 (1843)
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CLI nº 1a–b; 1969)

• Life-form & habit: Erect or ascending perennial herb, 30–60 cm tall. Stems rigid, often deflexed in the upper part, very scabrous.

• Leaves: Lower leaves oblong; upper ones lanceolate, with strongly revolute margins, rigid and very rough to the touch.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Spikes narrowly linear and often elongated. Bracts equal, oblong-linear, acute, with a prominent dorsal keel bordered by two green herbaceous strips and a white membranous, scabrous margin. Corolla glabrous; tube twice as long as the bracts; limb with ovate lobes each ending in a curved arista of equal length.

• Fruit: Mericarps oblong-linear.

• Phenology: Flowers from May to June (main form) and until August in some varieties.

• Habitat & elevation: Abandoned fields, rocky slopes, and disturbed terrains; from lowlands to mid-mountains.

• Lebanese distribution: Widely recorded by Mouterde: Saïda, Beirut, South Beirut, Nahr el-Mott, Tripoli; in the mid-mountains around Bikfaya, ʿAley, Ghazir, Jamhour, Bhamdoun, Kahalé; in the mountains at Qarn Aïtou, Jabal Barouk, Mar Semaʿan ʿAmoudi; in the Beqaa (Dar el-Ahmar–Mchaïtiyé); in Hermon (Aïha Rachaya, Chebaʿa); and in southern Lebanon (Marjayyoun, ʿAkkar, Menges).

• Native range: Cyprus, East Aegean Islands, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Kriti, Lebanon–Syria, Palestine, Türkiye (POWO).

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Three varieties recognised by Boissier occur in the Levant.
– var. macrostachya: typical, widespread in Lebanon and Syria.
– var. hispidula: with bracts hispid on back and margins, present from Nahr el-Kelb to Jabal Kneissé and Anti-Lebanon.
– var. brachystachya (= C. syriaca Boiss.): with shorter, denser spikes and narrower leaves, recorded from Damour, Beirut and Ras Chekka.