Family |
Rhamnaceae
Rhamnus kurdica
Boiss. & Hohen.
Rhamnus kurdica Boiss. & Hohen.
(First published in Diagn. Pl. Orient. 2: 3; 1843. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 557; Pl. CCXLI nº 2; 1966)
• Life-form & habit: Shrub 1–3 m tall, with tortuous, velvety branches that become spiny with age.
• Leaves: Coriaceous, pale green, shortly pubescent-tomentose, ovate to oblong-spatulate, obtuse or acute, larger than in related species (1–3 cm vs. 1–2 cm). Margin crenulate or denticulate, sometimes bearing minute blackish glands at the insertion of the teeth.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Few, axillary, fasciculate; pedicels as long as the flowers, pubescent.
• Fruit: Obovoid drupe, with a groove bordered by a cartilaginous ridge.
• Phenology: Flowers in spring.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky places.
• Lebanese distribution (Mouterde): Jaoubat Bourghal, Tartous.
• Syrian distribution (Mouterde): El-‘Aremi in the Ghab, Harim, east of Harim, Kutchuk Darmik.
• Native range (POWO): Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey.
⚠️ Taxonomic note: Mouterde reported the species extending eastward into Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, but POWO restricts its native range to the Levant and adjacent parts of the Middle East (Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon).