Family |
Caryophyllaceae
Silene damascena
Boiss. & Gaill.
Silene damascena Boiss. & Gaill.
First published in P.E.Boissier, Diagn. Pl. Orient., ser. 2, 6: 34 (1859).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, pp. 492–493, Pl. CLXVII, 2; 1966)
Description
Life-form & habit: Annual, 30–60 cm tall, with spreading hairs and slightly sticky upper stems. Stems are often solitary, sometimes clustered, with a few short basal branches and additional branching higher up.
Inflorescence & flowers: Long racemes with lower flower stalks often exceeding the calyx and progressively shorter stalks toward the top. The sticky, hairy calyx has purple veins and becomes club-shaped. Petal blades are vivid reddish purple, divided halfway into two lobes; crown scales are notched.
Fruit: Capsule equal to or slightly shorter than its supporting stalk. Seeds slightly rough.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering March–May.
Habitat & elevation: Rocky places, generally above 800 m, without a marked preference for siliceous soils.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Chahtoul, Mayrouba, Mrouj, Sofar, Mdeirej, Dahr el Baidar, Afqa, Tannourine, Sannine, Batroun region, Hadeth el Joubbe, Mejdel Tarchiche, Zahle pass, Machghara–Jezzine pass and Khirbet Kneisse near Yanta.
Native range: Lebanon-Syria, Oman, Palestine.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Mouterde distinguishes this species from S. siderophila and S. palaestina and places the original locality at Khirbet Kneisse near Yanta in Lebanon, despite the name damascena. His account calls it endemic, but Kew records a wider native range. The wider range reported by Kew leaves Lebanese endemism uncertain.