Family |
Lamiaceae
Lamium moschatum
Mill.
Lamium moschatum Mill.
First published in Gard. Dict., ed. 8.: n.° 4 (1768).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 139–140, Pl. LXVI, 2; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Annual herb with stout, striated, erect and often branched stems, hairless or sparsely hairy.
Leaves: Stalked, heart-shaped to ovate-triangular and round-toothed, often marked with white near the base. Floral leaves extend well beyond the flowers.
Inflorescence & flowers: Separated, many-flowered whorls. Bracts lanceolate and fringed with hairs, shorter than the calyx tube. Calyx hairless or nearly so, with triangular-lanceolate teeth as long as or longer than the tube. Corolla white, 12–15 mm long, with a ring of hairs inside the tube.
Fruit: The persistent calyx enlarges during fruiting.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering January–April.
Habitat & elevation: Waste ground, roadsides and cultivated fields in the Mediterranean zone.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Saida, Beirut and its surroundings, Nahr el Kalb, Tripoli, Jounieh, Hasroun and Qornet el Hamra.
Syrian distribution: Latakia, Hamme, Tell Chehab, Heite, Kafer, Kafer–Salkhad, Qanaouat, Sahwet el Khodor and Soueida.
Native range: Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Greece, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe.