Flora-Fauna

Myopordon pulchellum (C.Winkl. & Barbey) Wagenitz

(First published in Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. 71: 276; 1958. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 465, Pl. CCLXXVII nº 1; 1984, as Autrania pulchella Winkl. & Barbey)

• Life-form & habit: Subacaulescent monocarpic perennial, 3 – 5 cm tall, arising from a thick rhizome, forming a dense rosette.

• Leaves: All basal, shortly petiolate with sheathing bases, ovate-lanceolate, pinnatifid or lyrate, both surfaces canescent, margins ciliate-dentate; lobes ovate, tipped with a short spine.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Capitulum solitary, sessile, as large or larger than the rosette. Involucral bracts arachnoid-canescent, ending in a strong semilunar dark appendage, acuminate into a spine (≥10 mm). Receptacle with smooth hairs twisted at the base. Florets purplish.

• Fruit: Achenes 5 × 1 mm, nearly smooth, with lateral hilum; pappus of unequal white bristles.

• Phenology: July – September.

• Habitat & elevation: Alpine rocky slopes and ridges, 2 500 – 3 000 m.

• Lebanese distribution: Qornet es-Saouda and surrounding ridges, Dahr el-Kodib, Col des Cèdres, Makmel summits, Rijal el-‘Achara, Jourd Qarassia.

• Native range: Endemic to Lebanon.

• Conservation notes: A strict alpine endemic, restricted to the highest summits of northern Mount Lebanon. 

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: First described as Autrania pulchella by Winkler & Barbey; later transferred to Myopordon by Wagenitz. Distinguished from M. thiebauti by its long-spined, semilunar appendages on involucral bracts and pinnatifid leaves.