Family |
Hypericaceae
Hypericum thymifolium
Banks & Sol.
Hypericum thymifolium Banks & Sol.
≡ Hypericum serpyllifolium Lam.
(First published in A. Russell, Nat. Hist. Aleppo, ed. 2, 2: 270, 1794; treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 522–523; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Glabrous evergreen subshrub, 80–100 cm tall; long, rigid branches rebranched with erect ramules.
• Leaves: Persistent, elliptic, 5–8 mm, very shortly petiolate, dark green above, glaucous beneath, with slightly involute margins.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Terminal paniculate cymes. Calyx very short, 2–3 mm, sepals ovate, margins sometimes slightly glandular. Corolla ~1 cm, bright yellow. Capsule 3-carpellate, slightly papillose-vesiculate, topped by long, flexuose styles.
• Phenology: Flowers nearly all year round.
• Habitat & elevation: Degraded woodlands.
• Lebanese distribution: Above Naqoura, Saïda, Choueifat, Nahr Beyrouth, Antélias, Nahr el-Kelb, Jbail, Ras Chekka–Hamate, Tripoli, Jamhour, Broummana, Bikfaya, Ghosta, Mosbeh, Ghazir, ‘Abey, between Ma‘asser and Barouk, Choueir, Kahalé, Hammana, ‘Aïn Sindiané, Dimane .
• Syrian distribution: Safita, west of Safita, Qadmous, Bhamra, Jabal Mattai, Karadourane .
• Native range: Coastal region from the Amanus mountains south to Palestine .