Flora-Fauna

Cruciata taurica (Pall. ex Willd.) Ehrend. subsp. taurica

(First published in Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 22: 393 (1958); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3; 1983)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial hemicryptophyte to low subshrub; stems ascending to erect, slender, 15–40 cm tall, usually branched from the base, shortly pubescent to hispidulous.

• Leaves : Leaves in whorls of 4, elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, 1–3 cm long, with 3 prominent nerves; margins and veins usually rough or shortly hairy; upper leaves progressively smaller.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Flowers small, yellowish, arranged in axillary cymes; pedicels short; corolla rotate, 4-lobed; calyx very reduced; stamens 4.

• Fruit : Mericarps paired, small, rounded to reniform, covered with hooked or spreading hairs, aiding dispersal.

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

• Habitat & elevation : Rocky slopes, open woodland, scrub margins and montane grasslands; mostly 600–2000 m.

• Lebanese distribution : Recorded from montane areas of Lebanon, especially in open woodland and rocky habitats.

• Native range : Iran, Iraq, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Transcaucasus, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe.

• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished from other regional Rubiaceae by its perennial habit, whorled 4-leaved nodes, yellowish flowers and paired hairy mericarps; differs from annual Cruciata taxa by its more robust, often woody-based stems.