Family |
Asteraceae
Helichrysum plicatum subsp. plicatum
DC.
Helichrysum plicatum subsp. plicatum
First published in Prodr. 6: 183 (1838), for the species Helichrysum plicatum DC.; Kew provides no separate first-publication statement for the subspecies autonym.
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 384–385, Pl. CCVIII, 4 and CCIX, 1a–b; 1983)
Description
Synonym: Helichrysum anatolicum Boiss.
Life-form & habit: Tufted perennial to low subshrub, up to 40 cm tall, producing stolons and clothed with fine, cobweb-like to woolly hairs, with variable glandularity. Stolons up to 14 cm long, usually prostrate and flexuous, sometimes ascending, ending in woolly rosettes. Flowering stems 8–38 cm, ascending and reddish at the base.
Leaves: Ash-green to yellow-green, shortly running down the stem. Basal leaves 11.6–35 × 2.4–5.2 mm, oblanceolate to oblong-spatulate and blunt. Stem leaves up to 46.3 × 4.5 mm; upper leaves reduced, linear and pointed, at most 12 mm long.
Inflorescence & flowers: Loose corymb 16–76.4 mm across, with 5–37, occasionally 44, heads on stalks 2–13 mm long. Heads 5.6–9.4 × 7.3–12 mm, nearly spherical to ovoid in bud and hemispherical in flower. Involucral bracts yellow with copper-red tones, 42–67, loosely overlapping in eight to twelve rows. Heads generally contain 50–76 florets.
Fruit: Achenes bear white gelatinous glands; pappus white to yellow.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: June–August.
Habitat & elevation: Forest clearings, scree and rocks in subalpine and alpine regions, at 650–2,200 m.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Jabal Kneisse, Ain Saouair, Zahle Pass, Afqa, Sannine, plateau between Jabal Jaj and Jabal Jrid, the Cedars, Raboue, Hasroun, Jabal Qamouaa, Mejdel and Ain Geddaye.
Syrian distribution: Above Banias, the Alawite mountains and above the cedars near the summit of Jabal Ansariye.
Recorded locations: Sannine.
Native range: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, NW. Balkan Pen., Transcaucasus and Türkiye.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
This is the autonym of Helichrysum plicatum DC.; Kew’s exact subspecies record has no separate author or first-publication entry. Mouterde describes marked regional variation in stolon length, woolliness and leaf colour. The regional account is used without assigning the recorded observation to any other subspecies.