Family |
Rubiaceae
Galium libanoticum
Ehrend.
Endemic to Lebanon
Galium libanoticum Ehrend.
(First published in Ark. Bot., n.s., 5: 414 (1960); Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, Pl. CLV nº 4–5; 1983) (powo.science.kew.org)
• Life-form & habit : Perennial to suffruticose mountain herb, multicaule, 15–30 cm tall; stems angular, velvety-pubescent, glabrescent or glabrous.
• Leaves : Leaves in whorls of 6, linear, often very crowded on small plants, sometimes slightly broader, more or less shining when dry, usually blackening on drying.
• Inflorescence & flowers : Flowers grouped by 3–7 in the axils of the upper leaves, often exceeding the subtending leaf and forming a thyrsoid raceme; pedicel equalling the flower; corolla relatively large, white, 3.5–4 mm, with lanceolate lobes, muticous or shortly mucronate; anthers blackish; style bifid.
• Fruit : Fruit most often glabrous.
• Phenology : Flowers from May to June.
• Habitat & elevation : High mountain regions, mainly in the middle to high mountain belts of Lebanon, and also on Hermon and the Anti-Lebanon.
• Lebanese distribution : Recorded by Mouterde from above Faraya, the Cedars of Barouk, Jabal Barouk, Jabal Kneissé, Jisr-el-Hajar, Neba‘a-l-Laban, Laqlouq, Khan Sannine, Jabal Sannine, Jourd Hadeth, Tannourine, the Cedars of Hadeth, ‘Aïn-el-‘Asafir, Sir-ed-Dennié, Dimane, Dimane to Yammouné, Hasroun, Col des Cèdres, ‘Aïn-el-Qarn, the Cedars, Bcharré, Foum-el-Mizhab, Jabal Qamou‘a, Qornet Saouda, ‘Aïnata, Mchaitiyé-‘Aïnata and Hermon.
• Native range : Lebanon.
• Diagnostic remarks : Mouterde treated the plant under Galium Sibth. & Sm., with G. orientale Boiss. and G. schlumbergeri Boiss. included in synonymy, and noted Ehrendorfer’s separation of the Lebanese mountain plants as subsp. libanoticum and the Hermon/Anti-Lebanon plants as subsp. antilibanoticum. Mouterde, however, did not find clear differences in the examined material. POWO currently accepts Galium libanoticum Ehrend. as a species and gives its native range as Lebanon to Anti-Lebanon. It is distinguished by its multicaule perennial habit, whorls of six linear leaves, relatively large white flowers 3.5–4 mm wide, blackish anthers, and usually glabrous fruit. (powo.science.kew.org)