Family |
Fabaceae
Lathyrus libani
Fritsch
Leb. Syr. Tur.
Lathyrus libani Fritsch
= Orobus grandiflorus Boiss., non Lathyrus grandiflorus Sibth. & Sm.
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 430; 1969. First published in Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe 104: 517, 1895)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial with angular, erect stems, 20–80 cm tall; glabrous except for a very light pubescence on young parts and a permanent slight villosity on peduncles, pedicels, and petiolules.
• Leaves: With 3–4(–5) pairs of petiolulate leaflets, distant, broad, up to 8 × 4 cm, with well-marked pennate venation, obtuse or subacute at apex. Stipules semi-sagittate, oblong, acuminate, finely denticulate at base.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Peduncles shorter than the subtending leaf; racemes of 2–5 flowers. Calyx glabrous to finely pubescent; teeth triangular, the lower lanceolate, equalling or exceeding the tube. Corolla 1.5–2 cm, white, turning brownish on drying; wings slightly shorter than the keel.
• Fruit: Linear pod, glabrous at maturity, gradually attenuate at apex.
• Phenology: Flowers May–June.
• Habitat & elevation: Montane woodlands and cedar forests, between 1,200–1,800 m.
• Lebanese distribution: Environs of Ehden, forest of Ehden, Cedars of Bcharré (Reygasse, Huré, Coll. Mt).
• Syrian distribution: Coastal mountains (Bois du Bassit, Slenfé), Cedar forests of ‘Aïn Zehalta.
• Native range: Lebanon, Syria and Turkey