Family |
Asteraceae
Helichrysum virgineum
DC.
Endemic to Lebanon
Helichrysum virgineum DC.
= Helichrysum billardieri Boiss.
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 385; 1983. First published in Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis 6: 177, 1838)
• Life-form & habit: Tufted perennial, 10–20(–30) cm tall, stoloniferous, white arachnoid to woolly, eglandular. Rosettes of leaves arising directly from the woody stock or from short shoots (2–8 cm). Flowering stems 7–14(–25) cm, ascending.
• Leaves: Basal leaves 20–38(–62) × 4–8(–15) mm, petiolate, obovate to spatulate, obtuse; upper leaves reduced, 7–16 × 1.5–3 mm, oblong, subacute.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Inflorescences 20–57 mm, bearing 1–5 capitula. Peduncles 13–42 mm. Capitula 10–15 × 17–23 mm, heterogamous, hemispheric. Involucre white; bracts 60–74, loosely imbricate in 8–13 series, longer than florets. Florets 15–32 female + 60–128 hermaphrodites.
• Fruit: Achenes with white glands; pappus white.
• Phenology: Flowers May–July.
• Habitat & elevation: Chasmophyte of the montane and subalpine zones, 1,000–1,500 m.
• Lebanese distribution: Northern Lebanon: rocky cliffs at Ehden, between Bcharré and Qannoubine, Hatchit, Ouadi ej-Jos above Tannourine, Hasroun, Qannoubine, Nahr Ibrahim valley, Deir Houbb, Fnaidek, Qatr Valley.
• Native range: Endemic to northern Mount Lebanon.