Family |
Lamiaceae
Origanum × barbarae
Bornm.
Endemic to Lebanon
Origanum × barbarae Bornm.
First published in Verhandlungen der K.K. Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien 48: 615 (1898)
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, Pl. XCI nº 4; 1983)
• Life-form & habit: Erect perennial, simple or sparsely branched, 30–60 cm tall; stems subquadrangular, covered with short, more or less glandular hairs mixed with fine spreading bristles.
• Leaves: Ovate, ca. 2 cm long or more, densely pubescent-glandular, with strongly marked veins beneath.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Panicle formed by axillary branches divided once or twice. Spikes highly variable in length, with moderately imbricate bracts. Bracts ovate, pubescent and somewhat glandular, innervated, obtuse. Corollas white. Calyx not truly bilabiate: the anterior (outer) part is shorter, green, innervated, finely glandular.
• Fruit: As in Origanum, composed of four smooth nutlets.
• Phenology: June – October.
• Habitat & elevation: Stony or rocky terrain; mid-mountain zones.
• Lebanese distribution: Recorded by Mouterde from Nahr el-Kelb, Broummana, Choueir, Beit Méri, Bikfaya, ʿAïn Zehalta, and Mazraat Kfar Debiane.
• Native range: Endemic to Lebanon.
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: A primary hybrid between Origanum ehrenbergii Boiss. and O. syriacum L., showing intermediate characters: spikes less compact and less imbricate than in O. syriacum, but larger and more glandular-bracted than in O. ehrenbergii. One of the classic naturally occurring Origanum hybrids of Mount Lebanon.