Family |
Hypericaceae
Hypericum nanum
Poir.
Leb. Syr.
Hypericum nanum Poir.
First published in Encyclopédie, Suppl. 3: 699 (1814)
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CCXXIV nº 4)
• Life-form & habit: Very short, intricately branched suffruticose shrublet forming compact plaques or cushions, 20–50 cm across; stem bases thickened.
• Leaves: Ovate, 10–11 mm long, glabrous, bluish-glaucous, sparsely dotted; paler beneath.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers 3–9 in very shortly pedunculate terminal cymes. Sepals oblong-lanceolate, not glandular. Petals yellow.
• Fruit: Capsule short, brown, ending in short styles.
• Phenology: May – September.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky habitats, from montane slopes to high subalpine sites.
• Lebanese distribution: Recorded around Ajeltoun and Feitroun (Mount Lebanon), the Hasroun–Hadchit valley, Bcharré, subalpine Lebanon, Kefraya, Ouadi Ibrissa, and above Niha; also Metn and the Beqaa margins including Chtaura and Kamed el-Loz.
• Native range: Lebanon, Syria.
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Mouterde recognised a reduced form, var. prostratum Boiss., with smaller, sharper leaves and a more prostrate habit