Flora-Fauna

Dianthus micranthus Boiss. & Heldr.

First published in Diagnoses Plantarum Orientalium 8: 69 (1849)
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. CLXXXV nº 2; 1966)

• Life-form & habit: Tufted, multicaule perennial 15–40 cm tall; stems erect, slender, rigid, usually 1-flowered, rarely 2–3-flowered.

• Leaves: Short, rigid, linear-triquetrous; lower leaves sometimes puberulent; cauline blades extremely short.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Scales 4, oval, mucronate or obtuse. Calyx cylindro-conical, tapered at both ends, 5–8 mm long, about twice the length of the scales. Petal limb obovate, entire, equalling about one-third of the calyx, white with reddish underside.

• Fruit: Capsule included within the persistent calyx; seeds few, small.

• Phenology: June – August.

• Habitat & elevation: Mountain environments on rocky or open slopes.

• Lebanese distribution: Jabal Barouk, Jabal Sannine, Ouadi el-ʿArayech (Mount Lebanon).

• Native range: Lebanon–Syria, Türkiye.

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Previously misidentified by Post as Dianthus haussknechtii; Davis reassigned these specimens to D. micranthus based on calyx proportions and tooth shape. Petals in Levantine material are slightly emarginate-crenulate, not perfectly entire as described in Flora Orientalis.