Family |
Apiaceae
Heptaptera anisopetala
(DC.) Tutin
Heptaptera anisopetala (DC.) Tutin
(Feddes Repert. 74: 33; 1967 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CLXXVII nº 4; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial herb 40–100 cm tall, arising from a thick, somewhat woody rootstock. Stems erect, striate, solid, branched above, glabrous or slightly scabrous toward the inflorescence.
• Leaves: Basal and lower cauline leaves petiolate, broadly ovate to triangular, 5–15 × 3–8 cm, 2–3-pinnate with lanceolate to ovate lobes, margins irregularly serrate or incised; upper leaves smaller, sessile, less divided, with sheathing bases. Surfaces glabrous or sparsely pubescent beneath along veins.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Terminal compound umbels with 8–15 unequal rays; peduncles elongate, glabrous. Involucre absent or of few linear bracts; umbellules many-flowered, with 5–8 narrow bracteoles. Flowers white or yellowish-white, outer petals of marginal flowers distinctly unequal and radiating (hence the epithet anisopetala). Stylopodium conical; styles divergent at maturity.
• Fruit: Cremocarp broadly oval to suborbicular, 4–6 mm long, dorsally compressed, with 5 filiform ribs and narrow wings. Mericarps separating easily when ripe; vittae 1–2 per furrow.
• Phenology: Flowers and fruits from May to July.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry rocky slopes, open montane scrub, and steppe-like habitats on limestone or basalt, between 800 and 1 800 m.
• Lebanese distribution: Reported by Mouterde from the Beqaa Valley and Anti-Lebanon, particularly between Dahr el-Baïdar, Rashaya, and the foothills of Jabal el-Sheikh (Mount Hermon). Also seen on the eastern slopes of Mount Lebanon near Zahlé and Barouk.
• Native range: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Türkiye (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Formerly included in Pastinaca anisopetala DC. and later transferred to Heptaptera based on fruit and petal morphology. Distinguished within the genus by its large, asymmetrical marginal petals and relatively broad-winged mericarps. Often confused with H. cilicica Freyn & Bornm., but the latter has smaller umbels and narrower fruits.