Flora-Fauna

Minuartia libanotica (Boiss.) Bornm.

(First published in Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 31(2): 193; 1914. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 465, Pl. CLVIII nº 8; 1966, as Alsine libanotica Boiss.)

• Life-form & habit: Very glabrous perennial. Woody stock prolonged by subterranean or creeping stems 5 – 10 cm.

• Leaves: Very small, subulate, grooved, obtuse; lower ones imbricate at the base of the branches.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Slightly branched, dense cymes. Bracts very small, hyaline, obtuse. Pedicels shorter than the calyx. Sepals scarious, rigid, acute, with a green mid-band showing a white median nerve. Petals oblong, a little shorter than the calyx.

• Fruit: Capsule surpassing the calyx.

• Phenology: Flowers July – August.

• Habitat & elevation: Rocky alpine slopes, 2 000 – 3 000 m.

• Lebanese distribution: Jabal Sannine, Makmel summits, Foum el-Mizhab, Col des Cèdres, Rijal el-‘Achara, Rikbat el-Jamal, Qornet es-Saouda.

• Native range: Endemic to Lebanon.

• Conservation notes: A strict alpine endemic confined to the highest summits of Mount Lebanon. Small and localized populations are threatened by grazing, trampling. Climate warming poses a long-term risk by shrinking suitable alpine habitats.

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Described by Boissier as Alsine libanotica; transferred by Bornmüller to Minuartia. Related to M. parvulorum but more glabrous, with obtuse subulate leaves and shorter petals.