Flora-Fauna

Noaea mucronata subsp. humilis (Boiss.) Danin & Raus

(First published in Willdenowia 42: 289; 2012. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 435, Pl. CXLVII nº 3; 1966, as N. mucronata var. humilis Boiss.)

• Life-form & habit: Cushion-forming dwarf shrub, markedly montane. Stems short, densely branched, woody at the base. Young shoots flexuous, papillose-scabrid.

• Leaves: Alternate, linear, 6 – 22 mm, rigid, acute, mucronate; floral leaves shorter, scarious at the margins.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Solitary in the axils of floral leaves, sessile, subtended by two bracteoles as long or longer than the leaf. Perianth 4 mm, with 5 subequal, keeled sepals; in fruit expanded into unequal white to purplish membranous wings.

• Fruit: Achene enclosed within the winged perianth.

• Phenology: Flowers July – August; fruits in autumn and winter.

• Habitat & elevation: Dry rocky montane slopes and alpine steppes, 1 800 – 3 000 m.

• Lebanese distribution: Jabal Sannine, Col des Cèdres, Cedars of Bsharré, Dimane-Yammouné, Ehden, Qornet es-Saouda, Jabal Qarnita, and Mount Hermon.

• Native range: Iran, Lebanon-Syria.

• Conservation notes: A rare montane cushion shrub, confined to Lebanon and Syria, and highly vulnerable to overgrazing, trampling, and pine tree afforestation in the subalpine belt. Its fragmented alpine populations are further threatened by climate change.

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Originally described by Boissier as var. humilis of N. mucronata, later elevated to subspecies rank by Danin & Raus (2012).