Family |
Caryophyllaceae
Dianthus strictus
Banks & Sol.
Dianthus strictus Banks & Sol.
(First published in A.Russell, Nat. Hist. Aleppo, ed. 2, 2: 252 (1794); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. CLXXXVI nº 1–2; 1966)
• Life-form & habit : Perennial chamaephyte to low subshrub, very variable; stems erect to ascending, often branched, slender to rigid, glabrous or slightly scabrid.
• Leaves : Opposite, linear to narrowly lanceolate, acute, ciliate at base and scabrid along the margins; cauline leaves progressively shorter upward.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Flowers solitary or in loose branched inflorescences; epicalyx scales pale, membranous, shortly aristate; calyx conical-cylindrical, slightly narrowed toward the apex, greenish-white or sometimes flushed purple, striate mainly near the teeth and below the sinuses; petals pink, with a fan-shaped lamina, denticulate and often marked with darker dots.
• Fruit : Capsule enclosed within the persistent calyx, opening apically by teeth; seeds small, dry, dark.
• Phenology : Flowers from May to December.
• Habitat & elevation : Rocky slopes, open scrub, dry grasslands and limestone habitats.
• Lebanese distribution : Widespread in Lebanon, especially in rocky and open habitats from lower to montane zones.
• Native range : Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Türkiye, Yemen.
• Diagnostic remarks : Highly variable species complex; distinguished by its narrow scabrid leaves, conical-cylindrical calyx, pale membranous epicalyx scales and pink denticulate petals often marked with darker dots. POWO treats it as native from the eastern Mediterranean to western Iran.