Family |
Apiaceae
Pimpinella tragium
Vill.
Pimpinella tragium Vill.
(Prosp. Hist. Pl. Dauphiné: 24; 1779 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CLXXXVII nº 2; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial or sometimes biennial herb, 20–60 cm tall, with a slender, branched taproot and erect, finely striate, glabrous or slightly pubescent stems. Base often branched, giving rise to several flowering shoots.
• Leaves: Basal leaves pinnate to bipinnate, 5–15 × 3–7 cm, with ovate to oblong leaflets, coarsely toothed or lobed; cauline leaves smaller, 2–3 times pinnate with narrow, linear segments, the uppermost reduced to sheathing bracts. Petioles long, grooved, and expanded at the base.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Compound umbels terminal, with 10–20 unequal rays; bracts and bracteoles few or absent. Umbellules small, many-flowered. Flowers white, rarely pinkish; petals obovate, inflexed at the tip. Calyx teeth minute; stylopodium conical; styles short, spreading in fruit.
• Fruit: Schizocarp ovoid to oblong, 2–3 mm long, laterally compressed, glabrous or slightly scabrid, with five prominent ribs and thin vittae (oil canals) between them.
• Phenology: Flowers from May to August; fruits mature from July to September.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry grassy slopes, open rocky hillsides, and field margins, often on limestone or marl, between 400 and 1 800 m. Prefers well-drained soils in full sun.
• Lebanese distribution: Reported by Mouterde from Mount Lebanon and the Beqaa — notably Barouk, Dahr el-Baïdar, Zahlé, and Ras Baalbeck; locally common in submontane and montane steppe zones.
• Native to: Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, East European Russia, France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Morocco, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Romania, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Ukraine (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: A widespread Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian umbellifer with several closely related forms and subspecies. Distinguished by its small, ovoid fruits, nearly glabrous ribs, and few-bracted umbels. Sometimes confused with Pimpinella peregrina L., but that species has more pubescent fruits and denser umbels. In Lebanon, P. tragium is a frequent species of open montane grasslands and rocky steppe habitats.