Flora-Fauna

Galanthus fosteri Baker

(First published in Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 5: 458 (1889); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. XCV nº 3; 1966) (Plants of the World Online)

• Life-form & habit : Perennial bulbous geophyte, 10–30 cm tall; bulb ovoid, 2–3 cm long, covered with brown tunics.

• Leaves : Basal membranous sheath 4–5 cm long, enclosing the stem and two leaves; leaves shorter than the stem, somewhat dilated toward the apex.

• Inflorescence & flowers : Flower solitary, enclosed in a spathe 1–2 cm long, linear-lanceolate, with a herbaceous median zone and broadly membranous margins; outer tepals about 2 cm long, ovate-elliptic, white, rarely marked green at the apex; inner tepals lanceolate, bifid at the apex, marked around the sinus by a green horseshoe-shaped blotch, and with a second green blotch at the base; stamens with very short filaments and a long, acute, white appendage.

• Fruit : Ovary globose; capsule not described separately by Mouterde.

• Phenology : Flowers from February to March, sometimes until the beginning of April.

• Habitat & elevation : Lower to middle mountain belt; broader sources describe the species as a bulbous geophyte of temperate habitats. (Plants of the World Online)

• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from above Jezzine, Mdeireje, Dahr-el-Baidar, Beskinta, Mayrouba, Mejdel Tarchiche and above Tannourine-et-Tahta.

• Native range : Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Türkiye.

• Introduced range : Germany.

• Diagnostic remarks : Distinguished by its two leaves shorter than the scape, solitary nodding white flower, outer tepals ovate-elliptic and usually unmarked, and inner tepals bifid with a green horseshoe-shaped apical mark plus a second basal green mark. Mouterde records it from Lebanon and Syria and gives the wider geographical area as Turkey and Amanus; POWO currently accepts Galanthus fosteri Baker and gives the broader range as Central Türkiye to Jordan. (Plants of the World Online)