Family |
Lamiaceae
Salvia palaestina
Benth.
Salvia palaestina Benth.
(First published in Labiat. Gen. Spec.: 718; 1835. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 163; 1983)
• Life-form & habit: Perennial herb, 40–100 cm, with erect, branched stems, pubescent to villous, sometimes glandular.
• Leaves: Ovate to oblong, crenate-dentate, rugose, densely pubescent beneath; lower leaves petiolate, upper sessile.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Verticillasters many-flowered, forming elongated leafy spikes. Calyx campanulate, pubescent, upper lip short, lower with 2 conspicuous long teeth. Corolla pale violet to purplish, 20–25 mm, upper lip erect, lower lip spreading, trilobed.
• Fruit: Nutlets ovoid, smooth, brown.
• Phenology: Flowers April–June.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry rocky slopes, steppe margins, roadsides and field borders.
• Lebanese distribution: Frequent — Beqa‘a, Anti-Lebanon, Hermon slopes, coastal hills.
• Syrian distribution: Damascus and surroundings, Palmyra steppe, Jabal Druze, Aleppo plain, Latakia hinterland.
• Native range: Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon–Syria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sinai, Turkey. (POWO)