Family |
Caryophyllaceae
Gypsophila ruscifolia
Boiss.
Gypsophila ruscifolia Boiss.
(Diagn. Pl. Orient. 1: 12, 1843; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 514; Pl. CLXXX nº 1; 1966)
• Life-form & habit: Erect perennial herb, 30–80 cm tall; stems rigid, slender, leafy, often glandular, terminating in diffuse panicles.
• Leaves: Thick, coriaceous, oval to oblong, acute, with 5–7 nerves and prominent reticulation beneath. Sterile-shoot leaves rounded; fertile-stem leaves cordate-amplexicaul.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Panicles diffuse. Pedicels filiform, 3–6 times longer than the calyx. Calyx short-campanulate, divided to one-third; lobes ovate, very obtuse. Petals pink, linear, about twice as long as the calyx.
• Fruit: Capsules ovoid; seeds rugose, tuberculate.
• Phenology: Flowers June–July.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry regions, steppe and rocky slopes.
• Lebanese distribution: Ouadi el-‘Arayech (Metn), Ras Baalbeck, valleys of Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon (Mouterde, Boissier).
• Syrian distribution: Above Bloudane, Madaya, Yabroud, Hermon (‘Arné).
• Native range: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon–Syria, Turkey (POWO).