Flora-Fauna

Rubia tenuifolia subsp. doniettii (Griseb.) Ehrend. & Schönb.-Tem.

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, Pl. CL nº 1; 1983)
≡ Rubia olivieri var. stenophylla Boiss. ≡ Rubia doniettii Griseb.

• Life-form & habit: Woody-based perennial with scrambling or ascending stems up to 1 m, flexuous and pubescent when young. Branches often sprawling or weakly climbing over surrounding vegetation.

• Leaves: In whorls of 6, linear to narrowly elliptic (8–25 × 1–3 mm), coriaceous, glossy green above, entire but scabrid along the margins and midrib, otherwise smooth. Stipules leaflike, forming a pseudowhorl with the leaves.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Cymes axillary, few-flowered, scarcely exceeding the leaves; corolla yellowish-green, small, with narrowly lanceolate and sharply acuminate lobes; anthers ovoid; stigmas capitate.

• Fruit: Baccate drupe, subglobose, 4–6 mm, dark purple to black at maturity.

• Phenology: Flowers and fruits from March to June.

• Habitat & elevation: Dry rocky slopes, shrublands, and light woodland margins, from lowland to montane zones (up to ca. 1 600 m).

• Lebanese distribution: Reported by Mouterde from Beyrouth-Saint-Élie, ʿAbey, Bikfaya, ʿAley, Kahalé, Baabda, Afqa, Hasroun, ʿAqoura, Sannine, the Cedars, Zahlé, Ouadi-el-Harir, the Hermon range, Ouadi Chebaa, and Rachaya.

• Native range: Cyprus, Türkiye, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Somalia (POWO).

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Mouterde treated this taxon as Rubia tenuifolia var. stenophylla (Boiss.) Thiéb. (≡ R. doniettii Griseb.), distinct from var. elliptica by its narrower leaves and fewer-flowered cymes; the latter variety is more coastal, while var. stenophylla (= subsp. doniettii) occupies montane habitats of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon