Family |
Rosaceae
Sanguisorba minor subsp. lasiocarpa
(Boiss. & Hausskn.) Nordborg
Sanguisorba minor subsp. lasiocarpa (Boiss. & Hausskn.) Nordborg
First published in Opera Bot. 11: 66 (1966).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, pp. 218–219, Pl. LXXXIII, 3–4; 1970)
• Synonyms: Poterium lasiocarpum Boiss. & Hausskn.; Poterium compactum Boiss.
• Life-form & habit: Perennial. Mouterde’s Poterium lasiocarpum has erect, glabrous stems 20–50 cm tall. The separately described P. compactum has a thick woody rhizome producing dense tufts, with only scattered hairs on stems and leaves.
• Leaves: Almost glabrous in P. lasiocarpum. In P. compactum, leaves are small, deeply toothed and crowded on basal shoots; the 1–4 stem leaves decrease upwards, the uppermost sessile and reduced to one or two pointed linear divisions.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Heads arranged in a more or less branched panicle in P. lasiocarpum. Mouterde describes P. compactum as having glabrous flowers, with the fertile ones very woolly.
• Fruit: In P. lasiocarpum, the fruiting calyx is 3–4 mm, egg-shaped and four-angled, narrowly winged along its ribs, grooved and roughened on its faces, with detachable reddish velvety hairs. P. compactum has an almost smooth four-angled fruit.
• Phenology: Spring for P. lasiocarpum; June–July for P. compactum.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky ground for P. lasiocarpum; damp sandstone and decalcified soils at higher elevations for P. compactum.
• Lebanese distribution: Under P. compactum: sandstone between Jabal Sannine and Jabal Kneisse, and above Beskinta.
• Syrian distribution: Under P. lasiocarpum: Qadmous, Qrahta, south of Deirik, Karatchok Dagh and Ain Diwar. Under P. compactum: Jabal Chekif and above Bloudane.
• Recorded locations: Sannine.
• Native range: Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe and Uzbekistan.
• Introduced into: New Zealand South.
⚠️ Taxonomic note: Kew includes both Poterium lasiocarpum and P. compactum within this subspecies. Mouterde describes them separately; their contrasting characters, flowering seasons and localities are retained with explicit attribution. His regional endemism statement for P. compactum does not apply to the much wider current subspecies.