Family |
Asparagaceae
Ornithogalum neurostegium
Boiss. & C.I.Blanche
Ornithogalum neurostegium Boiss. & C.I.Blanche
First published in P.E.Boissier, Fl. Orient. 5: 222 (1882).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, pp. 244–245, Pl. LXXVII, 4; 1966)
Description
Life-form & habit: Bulbous perennial with an ovoid bulb 1–2 cm long and flowering stems 10–30 cm tall.
Leaves: Three to eight, with broad basal sheaths and broadly linear blades, glaucous especially near the base. Margins more or less wavy and twisted, edged with short hairs. Lower surfaces usually bear stiff, slightly recurved bristles, but may be glabrous in the variation described by Mouterde.
Inflorescence & flowers: Short inflorescence, 4–8 cm long, with seven to twenty flowers. Bracts lanceolate, tapering to a long sharp point, shorter than or slightly exceeding the flower stalks, with eight pale, green or brownish stripes. Flower stalks spread upwards at flowering and arch outwards in fruit. Funnel-shaped perianth, 10–20 mm long; free obovate-lanceolate tepals, the outer ones blunt and inner ones more pointed, with a narrow green stripe ending below the tip. Filaments oval-triangular; anthers oblong and yellow. Ovary globular, with a style of similar length and a very small stigma.
Fruit: Globular, unwinged capsule, 7–8 mm long.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: April–June, extending into July at altitude.
Habitat & elevation: Stony fields and pastures; described as widespread in the regional flora.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Beit Meri, Dhour Choueir, Bikfaya, Jabal Terbol, Qoubbayat, Jourd Tannourine, summit of Sannine, Jabal Barouk, Jabal Sannine, Towmat Jezzine, Ehden forest, Zahle and Qaa.
Syrian distribution: Chmaisse, Slenfe, Jabal Qalamoun, Homs, Meidan Ekbes–Radjou, Kissoue, Adra–Dmeir, Jabal Abd el Aziz, Troumba, Jabal Amiri, Jabal Bichri, Qaryatein and south of Qaryatein. Mouterde’s marginally hairy-leaved variant is additionally recorded at Zraiqiye, Khisfine–Fiq, Ain Bader, Sale and Kafer.
Recorded locations: Sannine.
Native range: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine and Türkiye.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
The first-publication date follows Kew, which gives 1882, rather than the 1884 date printed in Mouterde. Mouterde discusses historical confusion with O. fimbriatum. Kew accepts both subsp. neurostegium and subsp. eigii within this species; no subspecies identification is inferred for the recorded population.