Flora-Fauna

Onopordum blancheanum (Eig) Danin

First published in Israel Journal of Botany 37: 57 (1988). Basionym: Onopordum carduiforme subsp. blancheanum Eig, Palestine Journal of Botany, Jerusalem Series 2: 186 (1942).

Description

Scope: The following account describes the modern concept represented by Danin’s Israeli populations and Eroğlu’s Turkish material. The measurements are comparative reference data, not measurements of the photographed Lebanese plant.

Habit: Biennial, robust spiny herb, up to about 60 cm tall in the Turkish account; stem ascending, densely arachnoid, with sparse sessile glands, branching very low: 1–2 cm above ground in Eroğlu’s material and 2–10 cm in Danin’s account. Stems continuously winged, the wings interrupted below the capitula, triangular-lobed and strongly spinose.

Leaves: Alternate, deeply pinnatisect, densely arachnoid beneath and more sparsely so above. Basal leaves oblong-lanceolate in outline, c. 20–45 × 3–20 cm, with triangular spinose lobes; median cauline leaves smaller, elliptic-lanceolate; upper leaves progressively reduced and narrowly lanceolate. Leaf spines generally c. 1–5 mm.

Capitula: Solitary, globose, borne on relatively long peduncles. In the Turkish material described by Eroğlu (2021), peduncles measure 3–55 cm. Capitula are reported as 2.5–3.5 × 6.5–9.5 cm including spines; the smaller dimension should not be interpreted as a separately measured diameter of the involucre body.

Involucre: Phyllaries in 6–7 imbricate series, densely arachnoid in the modern Turkish material, with sparse sessile glands near the base and purplish coloration. Outer phyllaries lanceolate, recurved, c. 13–25 × 2–5.5 mm; median phyllaries lanceolate and curved or spreading, c. 17–30 × 2–5 mm; inner phyllaries linear, erect, c. 17–30 × 1–3 mm. Measurements include the spines.

Flowers: Corolla dark purple in Danin’s Israeli and Eroğlu’s Turkish concept, c. 19–25 mm long, 5-lobed.

Achenes: Rectangular-obovoid, somewhat compressed and 4-angled, transversely rugose, greenish-grey with darker brown patches. Turkish material measured by Eroğlu averages 4.68 × 2.58 mm (range 4.17–5.22 × 2.25–3.15 mm; length/width ratio c. 1.81).

Pappus: Bristles unequal, shortly barbellate; thicker bristles c. 10–12 mm and finer ones c. 8–9 mm.

Flowering and habitat

Modern Turkish records: Flowering May–June; roadsides and field margins. The studied collections were made at 685 and 910 m. These are collection elevations, not an established elevation range for Lebanon.

Mouterde’s broader treatment: Flowering March–August, from the coast to higher regions of Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon, under O. carduiforme including subsp. blancheanum (vol. 3, pp. 461–462). These observations cannot all be attributed to O. blancheanum in its narrower modern sense.

Distribution

Native range: Southern Türkiye to north-western Jordan, according to POWO, whose native geographical units are Türkiye, Lebanon-Syria and Palestine.

Historical Lebanese localities: The former account listed Tyre, Naqoura, Saïda, the source of Nahr Beirut, Tripoli, Akkar, Jabal Qamoua, Jabal Terbol, Broummana, the Cedars of Bsharré, Dimane, Hasroun, Jabal Sannine, Kneissé, Zahlé, Jdita, Ksara, Qalaʿat ech-Chekif and Rayak. These belong to Mouterde’s broad O. carduiforme treatment and require specimen reassessment before being accepted individually as records of modern O. blancheanum. Tripoli is independently documented by the type gathering.

Mapped location: Qaa.

⚠️ Taxonomic note:

Origin and typification. Onopordum blancheanum was originally described by Eig (1942) as O. carduiforme subsp. blancheanum from Lebanon and Syria. Danin (1988) subsequently raised it to species rank. The type gathering is Blanche 345, collected at Tripoli, Lebanon, on 10 May 1869. Eroğlu cites this gathering and reproduces the Paris sheet P00570245, captioned as an isolectotype. POWO currently accepts the species.

Eig’s distinction and Danin’s species concept. According to Danin’s account of Eig’s treatment, subsp. blancheanum differed from typical O. carduiforme primarily in its longer and less dissected leaves and narrower, longer achenes. Danin’s later separation at species level relied mainly on observations of Israeli populations: branching 2–10 cm above ground, peduncles 20–50 cm long, dark-purple corollas and larger capitula, 30–55 mm in diameter excluding the free part of the phyllaries, contrasting with the higher-branched, lighter-flowered O. carduiforme.

The Turkish redescription. Eroğlu (2021) provided a detailed modern morphological account based principally on plants collected in Hatay, southern Türkiye. These were compared with a digital image of Blanche 345 from Tripoli. The study documented dense arachnoid indumentum, sparse sessile glands on the stem and phyllary bases, detailed phyllary measurements and achene morphology. Its measurements therefore characterize the Turkish material; they are not a quantitative redescription of the Lebanese type itself.

Application to Lebanese populations. Caution is needed when applying the modern concept to morphologically divergent Lebanese plants. The diagnostic emphasis differs between Eig’s treatment and later accounts: leaf dissection and achene proportions were important in Eig’s distinction, whereas later comparisons emphasize branching level, capitulum size, indumentum and flower colour. Eroğlu did examine achene morphology, but a direct comparative analysis of mature achenes from the Lebanese type gathering and living populations remains particularly important. A comparison based on a type image is not equivalent to such an analysis.

Further revision. The limits of O. blancheanum within the Levantine Onopordum complex merit further study. Direct comparison of the Blanche 345 type material, especially mature achenes and involucral bracts, with populations from Lebanon, the Golan and southern Türkiye would be valuable. Until such a revision is undertaken, identifications of morphologically divergent Lebanese populations should be treated with caution.

Sources

Eig (1942), Palestine Journal of Botany, Jerusalem Series 2: 185–199, basionym p. 186; Danin (1988), Israel Journal of Botany 37: 57–59; Eroğlu (2021), Bağbahçe Bilim Dergisi 8(3): 21–29, especially pp. 22–26; Mouterde, Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 461–462, broad O. carduiforme treatment; Kew POWO (consulted 5 October 2026).