Family |
Cistaceae
Fumana scoparia
Pomel
Fumana scoparia Pomel
(First published in Mat. Fl. Atl.: 10 (1860); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CCXXXVI nº 2; 1970, syn. F. spachii sensu Boiss., non Gren. & Godr., F. ericoides auct., non (Cav.) Pau) (Plants of the World Online)
• Life-form & habit : Ascending to erect subshrub, 10–30 cm tall or more, with a long woody base; young stems glandular-pubescent.
• Leaves : Leaves alternate, linear, without stipules, very dense at the base of the annual stems, especially the lower leaves; upper parts of the stems long naked before the flowering portion.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Flowering stems usually bearing three terminal flowers; pedicels glandular-pubescent, subtended by a very short bract, much longer than the flowers, often incurved at the apex, causing the flower and later the capsule to incline toward the ground; calyx reddish, with glandular hairs along the green nerves; outer sepals very short; petals yellow, as in Fumana.
• Fruit : Capsule with 6–9 seeds.
• Phenology : Flowers in spring.
• Habitat & elevation : Localized; in Mouterde recorded from the lower and middle mountain belts. Broader Turkish descriptions cite chalky slopes and limestone rocky slopes, about 90–600 m. (nadidem.net)
• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from Choueifat and above Bcharré.
• Native range : Algeria, Greece, Italy, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Spain, Tunisia, Türkiye.
• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished in Mouterde’s key by its exstipulate alternate leaves, 6–12-seeded capsules, glandular-pubescent young stems and pedicels, and inflorescence long naked above dense, narrow, almost imbricate lower leaves. It differs from Fumana procumbens by its ascending to erect woody-based habit, glandular young stems and pedicels, and usually three-flowered terminal inflorescence; F. procumbens is smaller, with prostrate stems, non-glandular stems and pedicels, and solitary flowers. It differs from F. oligosperma by its 6–9-seeded capsule rather than a capsule with only three seeds.