Flora-Fauna

Sarcopoterium spinosum (L.) Spach

(First published in Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 3, 5: 43; 1846. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 455).

• Life-form & habit: Spiny, much-branched shrub, 30–100 cm tall, forming dense cushions. Branches rigid, intricately interwoven, ending in sharp spines.
• Leaves: Small, imparipinnate, deciduous, with 3–7 obovate to elliptic leaflets; young leaves pubescent, later glabrescent.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers small, unisexual, in compact axillary heads surrounded by spine-tipped bracts; petals absent; calyx tubular, lobes acute. Male flowers with 5 stamens; female flowers with inferior ovary and two short styles.
• Fruit: Small drupe enclosed within the persistent, accrescent calyx.
• Phenology: Flowers March–April.
• Habitat: Dry, rocky and calcareous hillsides, garrigue, and degraded scrublands.
• Lebanese localities: Common in coastal hills, southern Lebanon, and Beqaa margins.
• Syrian localities: Coastal and inland steppe margins, especially around Aleppo and Hama.
• Native to: Albania, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Greece, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Sardegna, Sicilia, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe (POWO).