Family |
Caryophyllaceae
Silene libanotica
Boiss.
Leb. Syr.
Silene libanotica Boiss.
First published in Diagn. Pl. Orient. 8: 89 (1849).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 1, p. 504, Pl. CLXXVI, 1; 1966)
Description
Life-form & habit: Perennial, 20–80 cm tall, hairless and slightly glaucous, with short stocks and more or less sticky upper parts. Slender leafy stems branch above, with alternate, single-flowered branches.
Leaves: Lower leaves oblong-spatulate and blunt; upper leaves lanceolate to linear and pointed.
Inflorescence & flowers: Flower stalks usually equal the relatively short calyx. Calyx veins are faint; its green or purplish teeth alternate between blunt and pointed. Petal blades are linear, divided into two lobes, yellowish white and without a crown.
Fruit: Oblong capsule, twice as long as its supporting stalk.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering June–August.
Habitat & elevation: Mountains.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Hasroun, Dimane, Hadeth cedars, Jabal Barouk, Jabal Kneisse, Qalaat Arrouba, Rahoue, Cedars pass and Jabal Sannine.
Syrian distribution: High Anti-Lebanon plateaus and Jabal Chekif; Mouterde records a purplish-flowered form on Jabal Chekif.
Native range: Lebanon-Syria, Palestine.