Flora-Fauna

Onopordum blancheanum (Eig) Danin

≡ Onopordum carduiforme Boiss. subsp. blancheanum Eig
(First published in Israel J. Bot. 37: 57; 1988. Treated in Nouv. Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 462; 1984, as Onopordum carduiforme subsp. blancheanum Eig)

• Life-form & habit: Tall biennial, often exceeding 1 m, arachnoid-canescent, sometimes faintly puberulent; stems erect, little branched below the inflorescence, narrowly winged and strongly spiny throughout.

• Leaves: Pinnatipartite into very spiny segments, sometimes only pinnatilobate; basal leaves large, oblong-lanceolate, decurrent, and forming a basal rosette; upper leaves smaller, sessile, clasping the stem wings.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Capitula 3 – 5 cm in diameter (excluding spines); involucral bracts narrow, 4 – 5 mm wide at base, terminating in a long, flat, pungent spine ≥ 2 cm; lower bracts reflexed, upper ones erect.

• Fruit: Achenes oblong, c. 3 mm, faintly striate, pale brown; pappus dirty-white.

• Phenology: Flowers March – August.

• Habitat & elevation: Roadsides, fallow fields, and dry mountain slopes, from the coast up to high elevations.

• Lebanese distribution: From Tyre, Naqoura, Saïda, and the source of Nahr Beirut, north to Tripoli, Akkar, Jabal Qamoua, Jabal Terbol, Broummana, the Cedars of Bsharré, Dimane, Hasroun, Jabal Sannine, Kneissé, Zahlé, Jdita, Ksara, and south to Qalaʿat ech-Chekif and Rayak.

• Native range: Lebanon and Syria.

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Previously included within O. carduiforme Boiss. as subsp. blancheanum Eig, this taxon was elevated to species rank by Danin (1988) based on consistent morphological differences in involucral bract morphology and spine orientation. It represents a Levantine endemic related to O. carduiforme and O. floccosum, occupying similar arid to sub-montane habitats across Lebanon and western Syria.