Family |
Asteraceae
Leontodon libanoticus
Boiss.
Endemic to Lebanon
Leontodon libanoticus Boiss.
First published in Diagn. Pl. Orient. 11: 39 (1849).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 507–508, Pl. CCCXVIII, 2; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Perennial, 10–20 cm tall, covered with short, branched, star-shaped hairs. Root vertical, with a thick, branched rhizome. Short flowering stalks usually bear one head and broaden towards their tips.
Leaves: Short, narrowly oblong-lanceolate, wavy-toothed and tapering into a stalk.
Inflorescence & flowers: Heads about 15 mm long, nodding before flowering. Lowest involucral bracts short and triangular; successive bracts progressively longer. All have a sparse, curly, mealy covering and fine marginal hairs, especially the outer bracts.
Fruit: Cylindrical, striate, rough achenes tapering at the tip. Dirty-white pappus with 15–20 feathery bristles, barely widened at the base and slightly shorter than the achene body.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: July–September.
Habitat & elevation: Lebanese mountain summits.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Jabal Kneisse and its western side, Sannine, Jabal Jrad above Qartaba, Jabal Qamouaa, Jouit springs, Jourd Tannourine, Hasroun, Mar Semaane, Mar Elias, Mar Sarkis at Bcharre, Dimane, above Ehden and the Cedars.
Recorded locations: Sannine and Tannourine.
Native range: Lebanon, according to Kew’s range summary; its distribution unit is Lebanon-Syria.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Lebanese endemism remains unconfirmed here: Mouterde also reports the plant from the Amanus, whereas Kew summarises its native range as Lebanon. This discrepancy leaves Lebanese endemism unresolved.