Family |
Caryophyllaceae
Dianthus pachygonus
(Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Fassou, N.Korotkova, Dimop. & Borsch
Dianthus pachygonus (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Fassou, N.Korotkova, Dimop. & Borsch
= Petrorhagia cretica (L.) P.W.Ball & Heywood
First published (basionym) as Tunica pachygona in Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St.-Pétersbourg (1840)
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. CLXXXIII nº 3; 1966)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial, slender to moderately robust herb with erect to ascending stems; usually several stems arising from a simple base.
• Leaves: Linear-lanceolate, narrow, rigid, slightly scabrous on the margins; cauline leaves short and appressed, forming loose tufts.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers solitary or few, terminal. Calyx cylindric, long and narrow; bracts (caliculus) scarious-margined, appressed. Petal limb pink to pale rose, divided high into slender, flexuous lobes (deeply fimbriate), characteristic of the group.
• Fruit: Capsule enclosed within the persistent calyx; seeds small, numerous.
• Phenology: Flowers April – July in Lebanon and Syria.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky and dry slopes, open steppe-like sites, and stony mountain foothills.
• Lebanese distribution: Recorded by Mouterde from Ksara (Beqaa) and surrounding stony slopes.
• Native range: Cyprus, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Transcaucasus, Turkmenistan, Türkiye (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Treated by Mouterde under Tunica (= Petrorhagia) as T. pachygona. Modern phylogenetic work has shown that the species belongs to the Dianthus clade, leading to its new combination as Dianthus pachygonus. Despite this transfer, Levantine material matches well the morphology illustrated by Mouterde under Petrorhagia cretica.