Family |
Asteraceae
Phagnalon linifolium
Post
Leb. Syr.
Phagnalon linifolium Post
(First published in Pl. Post. 1: 12; 1891. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 380; 1983)
• Life-form & habit: Small perennial with slender stems from a woody rhizome, 5–15 cm, glabrescent or very finely puberulent.
• Leaves: Clustered near the base, lanceolate to linear, acute, folded, sometimes with a few marginal teeth.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Terminal peduncles as long as the leafy part, naked or with 1–2 small bracteoles. Capitula 1 × 1.5 cm at the end of anthesis. Involucre of glabrous, shiny bracts, the lower ones reflexed, shorter, reddish at apex.
• Phenology: Flowers April–May.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky places in montane and subalpine zones.
• Lebanese distribution: Douma, Jabal Kneissé, Jabal Sannine, Afqa, Neba‘ el-Laban, Hasroun, Ber Kecha, Ehden forest, Dimane, ‘Aïn el-Qarn above Ehden, Qala‘at Arrouba, Makmel, Jabal Qamoua.
• Syrian distribution: Jabal Qasyoun (Damascus).
• Native range: Endemic to Lebanon and Syria.
⚠️ Taxonomic note: Recognized as a narrow Levantine endemic, confined to high mountain ranges of Lebanon and western Syria.