Family |
Asteraceae
Helichrysum sanguineum
(L.) Kostel.
Helichrysum sanguineum (L.) Kostel.
First published in Allg. Med.-Pharm. Fl. 2: 709 (1833).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 385–386, Pl. CCIX, 3; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Woolly perennial reaching 70 cm, with a horizontal rhizome and branched flowering stems, usually 25–40 cm tall.
Leaves: Leaves extend down the stem and are somewhat glandular. Lower blades are broadly oblanceolate to spatulate and stalked, usually about 47–95 × 6–19.5 mm; upper leaves are much smaller, linear, pointed and pressed against the stem.
Inflorescence & flowers: Four to twenty-eight rounded to broadly bell-shaped heads form a simple or compound cluster. Their blunt, strongly hooded bracts are dark purple, rarely yellow; the corolla tips are purple.
Fruit: Whitish, glandular achenes with a white pappus.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering April–June.
Habitat & elevation: Limestone ground and gravel, from sea level to 1,000 m.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Saida, Beirut, Zahrani banks, Nahr Beirut, Ras Chekka, Kaftine, Tripoli, Saida–Nabatiye, Ain Bessaba, Chahtoul, Jamhour, Baabdate, Abey, Mkalles, Broummana, Mar Doumit on Jabal Terbol, Jamaliye–Iskanderun, Maghdouche, Ehden, Baino, Menges and Kornet Chehwan.
Syrian distribution: Banias, Nahr el Kebir, Safita, Tartous, Machta, Bhamra and Bassit.
Native range: Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Türkiye.