Flora-Fauna

Origanum ehrenbergii Boiss.

First published in Flora Orientalis 4: 551 (1879)
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, Pl. XCI nº 5; 1983)

• Life-form & habit: Perennial, woody at the base, with simple or few branched, erect to ascending stems 30–50(–80) cm tall. Lower portions of stems bearing sparse, spreading hairs; the rest of the plant glabrous.

• Leaves: Opposite, obtuse, densely dotted with glands; 10–20 mm long. Basal leaves petiolate; upper cauline leaves sessile and fasciculigerous (borne in small clusters).

• Inflorescence & flowers: Flowering peduncles short. Spikes subsessile and fasciculate, borne from the upper two-thirds of the stems, forming a long, continuous thyrse of spaced axillary inflorescences surmounted by a terminal spike of identical structure. Floral leaves reduced; each spike 10–15 mm. Bracts ovate–spatulate, lozenge-shaped, pale green, not veined, and exceeding the calyx. Calyx regular, with 5 teeth, densely covered with red glands. Corolla white, 2–3 times longer than the calyx, gradually widening toward the limb and bearing scattered glands; stamens included.

• Fruit: Four smooth nutlets, typical of Origanum.

• Phenology: June – October.

• Habitat & elevation: Grows on Lebanese sandstone (“grès du Liban”) and rocky slopes; from low montane to high montane belts.

• Lebanese distribution: Widely distributed in Mount Lebanon and the adjoining foothills. Recorded by Mouterde from Nahr el-Kelb, ʿAïn Qaʿa, ʿAïn Zehalta, Jabal Barouk, the Zahlé–Bikfaya ridge, Sannine, Col de Zahlé, Jabal Kneissé, Beit Méri, Broummana, Jebaʿa, Choueir, Dhour Choueir, Bikfaya, Beit Chebab, ʿAraya, Faraya, Salima, Qartaba, and Falougha.

• Native range: Endemic to Lebanon.

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Boissier mistakenly described the species as having purple corollas; Mouterde corrected this, noting that the species is not variable in corolla colour (always white) except for slightly depauperate forms near the Col de Zahlé.