Family |
Lamiaceae
Phlomoides laciniata
(L.) Kamelin & Makhm.
Phlomoides laciniata (L.) Kamelin & Makhm.
(Bot. Zhurn. (Moscow & Leningrad) 75: 249; 1990 – basionym: Phlomis laciniata L., Sp. Pl.: 586; 1753 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CLXVI nº 1; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial herb or subshrub, 30–70 cm tall, with a woody base and numerous erect or ascending stems. Whole plant densely covered with a soft, greyish tomentum, giving a woolly aspect.
• Leaves: Basal and lower cauline leaves oblong to ovate-lanceolate, 5–15 × 2–5 cm, irregularly pinnatifid or deeply lobed; lobes acute, margins entire or slightly undulate. Upper leaves smaller, entire or shallowly toothed, sessile, densely white-tomentose on both surfaces.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Verticillasters of 6–12 flowers arranged in distant whorls along the upper part of the stem. Calyx tubular-campanulate, 12–15 mm, 10-nerved, covered with grey hairs, with 5 nearly equal triangular teeth. Corolla bright yellow, bilabiate, 25–35 mm long; upper lip arched and entire, lower lip trilobed with a broad middle lobe. Stamens 4, exserted beneath the upper lip.
• Fruit: Nutlets ovoid, smooth, enclosed within the persistent calyx.
• Phenology: Flowers from May to July; fruits mature in late summer.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry rocky slopes, steppe margins, and open scrub on limestone or marl, between 500 and 1 800 m; characteristic of montane steppe vegetation.
• Lebanese distribution: Reported by Mouterde (as Phlomis laciniata) from Mount Lebanon and the Beqaa — particularly Dahr el-Baïdar, Barouk, Zahlé, and Ras Baalbeck; locally frequent in dry montane habitats.
• Native range: Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Sinai, Transcaucasus, Türkiye (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Homotypic synonym: Eremostachys laciniata (L.) Bunge (in Ledeb. Fl. Altaic. 2: 416; 1830). Transferred to Phlomoides by Kamelin & Makhmedov (1990) based on fruit and floral morphology. Easily distinguished from Phlomis viscosa by its woolly indumentum, greyish coloration, and deeply lobed basal leaves. A characteristic Irano-Anatolian–Levantine species of dry montane and steppe habitats.