Flora-Fauna

Scilla libanotica Speta

First published in Naturk. Jahrb. Stadt Linz 22: 68 (1976); actual issue date 14 June 1977 according to Speta’s later treatment.

(Description based on Speta’s later redescription.)

Description

Life-form, bulb and roots: Bulbous perennial. Bulb ovoid, approximately 27 × 18 mm, white internally; tunic blackish-brown externally, becoming purplish-violet inwardly. Roots white, annual and unbranched.

Leaves: Each bulb produces 2–3(–6) leaves appearing with the flowers. Leaves pointed, shallowly channelled, approximately 28 cm long and 1.5 cm wide.

Inflorescence: Each bulb bears (1–)2(–3) inflorescences. Scapes stout, semiterete (semicircular in cross-section), up to 30 cm long. Racemes open and loose, with 1–8 flowers on straight pedicels; the lowest pedicels measure (4–)10–25 mm. Bracts and bracteoles violet-tinged, unspurred, 1–1.5 mm long.

Flowers: Flowers open into a bell-shaped to star-shaped form at full anthesis. Tepals light blue, (10–)13–14(–17) mm long and 3(–4.5) mm wide; perianth deciduous. Stamens threadlike, (6–)7–8(–9) mm long, with blue anther sacs. Ovary globose, with 3–4 globose to nearly globose ovules per chamber. Style slender, 7–10 mm long.

Seeds: Seeds nearly globose, with a large elaiosome arising from the raphe; seed coat papillose.

Flowering and habitat

Flowering: The type was collected on 25 April 1965. This dated collection does not establish the complete flowering period.

Habitat and elevation: Shaded cedar forest on Jabal Barouk above Maasser ech Chouf, at 1,700–1,800 m, as documented for the type locality. These elevations are not presented as the species’ full altitudinal range.

Distribution

Documented locality: Jabal Barouk, cedar forest above Maasser ech Chouf (type locality).

Recorded location: Kfertay.

Native range: Lebanon to Anti-Lebanon; POWO records the species within its Lebanon-Syria geographical unit. This range should not be interpreted as demonstrating strict endemism within Lebanon’s political boundaries.

⚠️ Taxonomic note:

Scilla libanotica Speta is accepted by POWO. Othocallis libanotica (Speta) Speta, published in Phyton (Horn) 38: 112 (1998), is its homotypic synonym, representing a transfer of the same species to another genus rather than a different taxon.

The original name was published on p. 68 of Speta’s Neue Scilla-Arten aus dem östlichen Mittelmeerraum, Naturkundliches Jahrbuch der Stadt Linz 22: 65–72, in a volume dated 1976. Speta’s later treatment specifies 14 June 1977 as the actual publication date; POWO cites the volume year 1976. The detailed morphology above follows Speta’s later German redescription rather than the shorter protologue.

Speta identifies S. melaina as a close relative sharing a conspicuous raphe-derived seed elaiosome. The principal reported distinction is the longer style of S. libanotica (7–10 mm, versus 4–5 mm in S. melaina). Its narrower tepals and generally paler flowers provide supporting characters, but overlapping floral dimensions and flower numbers should not be treated as decisive on their own.

Further comparative characters distinguish S. cilicica by seeds lacking an elaiosome, generally blunt leaf tips, larger somewhat spurred bracts and pedicels tending to nod near their tips. Scilla libanotica instead has pointed leaves, small unspurred bracts and straight pedicels. Style lengths overlap between these two species.

Mouterde’s volume 1 predates the publication of S. libanotica. His regional accounts under other Scilla names cannot be reassigned wholesale to this species without supporting revisionary evidence or re-examination of specimens. Identification should prioritize style length, bract structure, pedicel posture and mature seed morphology, together with leaf shape and flower colour.

Sources:

Kew POWO; Speta’s later revision.