Family |
Ranunculaceae
Nigella unguicularis
(Poir.) Spenn.
Nigella unguicularis (Poir.) Spenn.
(Monogr. Nigell.: 12; 1829 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, Pl. CXI nº 2; 1966)
• Life-form & habit: Annual herb, 20–60 cm tall, glabrous, much-branched above, with slender, erect to ascending stems.
• Leaves: Alternate, 2–3 times pinnatisect with filiform segments, giving the plant a finely divided, feathery aspect; lower leaves on short petioles, upper sessile and reduced in size.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Solitary, terminal, on long peduncles. Flowers large (3–5 cm across), showy, pale blue, bluish-white, or occasionally pinkish. Sepals 5, petaloid, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; petals small, glandular, 2-lobed, forming a nectariferous cup around the stamens. Stamens numerous; carpels 5, free or slightly united at the base, each with a long, recurved style forming characteristic horn-like appendages.
• Fruit: Capsule composed of 5 distinct or slightly connate follicles, each 15–25 mm long, inflated, containing numerous black, roughened seeds.
• Phenology: Flowers and fruits from April to June.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry rocky slopes, field margins, and open steppe habitats, often on limestone or marl, between 200 and 1 400 m.
• Lebanese distribution: Recorded by Mouterde from Mount Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and the Anti-Lebanon — notably Zahlé, Dahr el-Baïdar, Barouk, and Ras Baalbeck; often in fallow fields and semi-arid slopes.
• Native range: Cyprus, Iraq, Kriti, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Türkiye (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Closely related to Nigella damascena L. but distinguished by its longer, free or slightly united styles forming divergent horn-like tips and by its glabrous, non-inflated capsule walls. Sometimes cultivated as an ornamental and occasionally naturalised near old gardens and ruins.