Family |
Caryophyllaceae
Gypsophila damascena
Boiss.
Leb. Syr.
Gypsophila damascena Boiss.
(Diagn. Pl. Orient. 8: 57, 1849; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 513; Pl. CLXXIX nº 4; 1966)
• Life-form & habit: Erect annual herb, 30–80 cm tall, branched, with rigid slender stems, glabrous or slightly glandular, bearing divaricate panicles.
• Leaves: Small, somewhat fleshy, oblong-acute, with three anastomosing nerves, the lateral nerves contiguous to the margins.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Panicles lax, with setaceous pedicels 4–6 times as long as the calyx. Calyx campanulate, lobes divided beyond the middle, oblong, obtuse, membranous on the margin. Petals white, lamina as long as the calyx.
• Fruit: Capsules ovoid, seeds rough and tuberculate.
• Phenology: Flowers May–July.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry regions, fields and steppe-like habitats.
• Lebanese distribution: Anti-Lebanon, Ouadi el-Harir (collected by Blanche).
• Syrian distribution: Damascus (Boissier), Dimas, Doummar, Mezzé, Raboué (Gaillardot), Anti-Lebanon east of Yabroud, Qaryatein to ‘Aïn el-Beida, towards Meskene; Hassetché region.
• Native range: Lebanon and Syria (POWO).