Family |
Boraginaceae
Mattiastrum lithospermifolium
(Lam.) Brand
Mattiastrum lithospermifolium (Lam.) Brand
(First published in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 14: 155; 1915. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 58, Pl. XXIX nº 4; 1984)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial with branched rhizome. Stems 10 – 40 cm, ascending, simple or branched from the base, covered with long white hairs and tubercles at the base.
• Leaves: Radical leaves oblong, petiolate; cauline leaves few, narrower, sessile.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Fruiting cymes elongated, lax. Corolla blue-violet, small, limb slightly shorter than the tube. Fruiting pedicels spreading, recurved, shorter than the calyx.
• Fruit: Nutlets usually with low spinulose tubercles on the surface, rarely smooth; surrounded by a broad, subconcave membrane with denticulate margin.
• Phenology: Flowers May – July.
• Habitat & elevation: Montane habitats, rocky slopes and summits.
• Lebanese distribution: Col des Cèdres, above Ehden and Dimane, Yammouné, Hasroun, Qornet es-Saouda, Jabal Sannine, Mt Hermon, Talaat Moussa, Jabal Abou-l-Haoua.
• Native range: Cyprus, East Aegean Islands, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Turkey (POWO).
• Conservation notes: A montane species restricted to rocky highland stations. Threatened locally by grazing and human disturbance; pine tree afforestation projects overlap with part of its distribution range.
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Previously placed in Cynoglossum and Paracaryum; distinguished from M. lamprocarpum by its nutlets bearing tubercles and denticulate wings.