Family |
Hypericaceae
Hypericum stenobotrys
Boiss.
Leb. Syr. Tur. Cyp.
Hypericum stenobotrys Boiss.
First published in Diagn. Pl. Orient. 8: 115 (1849).
(Diagnoses Plantarum Orientalium Novarum, series 1, fascicle 8, p. 115; 1849.)
Description
Synonyms: Hypericum confertum var. stenobotrys (Boiss.) Boiss.; Hypericum confertum subsp. stenobotrys (Boiss.) Holmboe.
Life-form & habit: Glabrous, many-stemmed plant, woody at the base. Stems short, reddish, slender, simple and densely leafy, according to Boissier’s original account.
Leaves: Sessile, oblong-linear and blunt, with slightly rolled-under margins, a strong midrib and conspicuous translucent dots. Each leaf axil produces a cluster of shorter leaves whose strongly rolled-under margins give them a nearly cylindrical, linear appearance.
Inflorescence & flowers: Narrow, raceme-like panicle, with very short lower branches. Bracts ovate and shortly toothed. Calyx about one-third the length of the corolla; its divisions ovate-oblong and blunt, with about five parallel veins and translucent lines between them. Their margins are comb-like, fringed with hairs ending in black glands; these fringes are about one-third as long as the sepal width. Petals bear yellow glandular vesicles.
Fruit: The capsule is not described in Boissier’s original account.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: No flowering period is stated in the original account.
Habitat & elevation: Woodland on the Mount Cassius ridge, where Boissier considered the plant apparently rare. No numerical elevation is given.
Distribution
Historical locality: Mount Cassius, as recorded in the original description.
Recorded locations: Sannine.
Native range: Cyprus, Lebanon-Syria and Türkiye, according to Kew POWO.
Description source:
Boissier, Diagnoses Plantarum Orientalium Novarum, series 1, fascicle 8, p. 115 (1849).
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Kew accepts Hypericum stenobotrys as a species and treats the two confertum combinations above as homotypic synonyms. Boissier distinguishes it from H. confertum by its blunt, ovate-oblong sepals with shorter fringes. Mouterde (vol. 2, p. 523) states that his Lebanese collections resemble typical H. confertum, while northern Syrian collections approach stenobotrys. The description above therefore follows Boissier’s exact species account; Mouterde’s combined Lebanese locality list and flowering period have not been transferred. The identification of the Sannine record requires confirmation against the diagnostic characters of H. stenobotrys.