Flora-Fauna

Orobanche astragali Mouterde

First published in Saussurea 4: 23 (1973).

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 277–278; Pl. CXLI, fig. 1)

Description

Morphology: Perennial parasitic herb. Collected specimens generally 15–18 cm tall, with one slightly exceeding 20 cm. Stem simple or with a few short, mostly erect branches, about 15 mm thick, strongly hardened, angular and striate; base sometimes slightly swollen, upper part irregularly flexuous. Lower scales described tentatively by Mouterde as probably ovate with scarious margins; upper scales lanceolate, narrowed at the base and somewhat acute at the tip. Terminal scales may subtend sterile or, less often, few-flowered branches. Spike dense, 5–8(10) cm long, pyramidal at the summit before flowering and later rounded. Flowers more or less stalked. Bracts adnate to the calyx, brownish and awl-shaped, shorter than the calyx teeth. Calyx white, few-veined, 10–15 mm long, papery at least when dry, with awl-shaped teeth equalling the tube. Corolla 25–30 mm long, tubular and expanded near the summit, scarcely curved above the insertion of the stamens; white or pale yellow at the base and greyish blue above. Corolla limb shortly erect, its short, scarcely unequal lobes erect, ovate, rounded or triangular at the apex and shortly acuminate. Filaments glabrous and expanded at the base. Anthers ovate, pointed, completely glabrous and white when dry. Style violet when dry; stigma shortly three-lobed. Mouterde could not describe the capsule, even from September material.

Flowering and habitat

Flowering: June–July; specimens were already very advanced in September.

Habitat and elevation: High mountains, 1,800–3,000 m. Parasitic on spiny Astragalus, apparently exclusively so in Mouterde’s observations.

Distribution

Lebanese localities: Jabal Kneissé (type locality), Ain Saouaïr, Jabal Sannine and toward Qornet Saouda.

Recorded location: Sannine.

Native range: Lebanon; considered endemic by Mouterde under his treatment of O. astragali. See the taxonomic note for POWO’s broader treatment.

⚠️ Taxonomic note:

The name Orobanche astragali Mouterde is retained here following Mouterde’s treatment. POWO currently treats it, and Phelipanche astragali (Mouterde) Holub, as synonyms of Orobanche hirtiflora (Reut.) Burkill, following Domina’s synopsis cited there as 2025. O. hirtiflora was first published in List Fl. Pl. Baluchistan: 57 (1909). Its broader native range extends from Lebanon to Anti-Lebanon and from the Caucasus to western Pakistan; POWO lists Iran, Lebanon-Syria, Pakistan and Transcaucasus, with no introduced records. Mouterde’s Lebanese-endemic designation refers to his narrower O. astragali treatment and does not apply to the broader O. hirtiflora concept. The morphology, host association and Lebanese localities above specifically follow Mouterde’s O. astragali account. A separate cross-check against the FloraFauna endemic checklist could not be completed because its entries were inaccessible.

Provisional assessment (Ramy Maalouf): The synonymy with O. hirtiflora is plausible, given the reported overlap in morphology, including 25–30 mm corollas, habit and anther characters, and the shared association with Astragalus. However, it is not considered conclusively established here for the Lebanese populations. Host-driven variation demonstrated in O. crenata cautions against relying on small floral differences, but does not itself establish synonymy in this group. A joint comparison of Lebanese material from Sannine and Jabal Kneissé, Mount Hermon plants and authenticated Iranian O. hirtiflora, using types, quantitative morphology and molecular data, would help resolve their identity. Given the geographic separation and apparent ecological specialization of the Lebanese plants, O. astragali is retained provisionally pending further evidence.

References: Domina, synopsis (online 2025; volume 2026); Domina & Danin (2014); Domina (2018).