Flora-Fauna

Filago arvensis L.

(Sp. Pl.: 856; 1753 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CCXIX nº 2; 1969)

• Life-form & habit: Annual woolly herb, 5–25 cm tall, grey-white throughout due to a dense covering of lanate hairs. Stems erect or ascending, simple or sparsely branched from the base, forming small tufts or loose mats.

• Leaves: Alternate, sessile, linear-lanceolate, 5–15 × 1–2 mm, entire, acute, and densely white-tomentose on both surfaces, giving a felted appearance.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Numerous small capitula aggregated into compact, globular clusters 5–10 mm wide at stem tips or in the upper axils. Involucral bracts oblong-lanceolate, whitish, densely woolly outside and pale yellowish inside. Florets tubular, all hermaphrodite, yellowish or straw-coloured. Receptacle flat, naked.

• Fruit: Achenes minute, oblong, smooth, crowned by a pappus of short, rough bristles that are easily detached.

• Phenology: Flowers and fruits from March to June.

• Habitat & elevation: Dry, open habitats — fallow fields, rocky slopes, roadsides, and steppe grasslands on limestone or marl, 0–1 800 m. Prefers sunny, well-drained, often disturbed soils.

• Lebanese distribution: Reported by Mouterde from Beqaa Valley, Dahr el-Baïdar, Barouk, and Sannine foothills; common in disturbed and ruderal habitats, especially in drier montane zones.

• Native to: Afghanistan, Albania, Altay, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Central European Russia, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, West Himalaya, West Siberia, Xinjiang (POWO).

• Introduced into: Alaska, British Columbia, Great Britain, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Primorye, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Washington, Wyoming (POWO).

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Filago arvensis is a cosmopolitan element of the Mediterranean and Eurasian steppes, easily recognised by its woolly white indumentum, small clustered heads, and linear tomentose leaves. It differs from F. germanica by its smaller, denser capitula and shorter pappus bristles. In Lebanon, it is one of the most common Filago species of dry, open montane grasslands, often growing with Anthemis cotula, Trifolium scabrum, and Plantago lagopus.