Family |
Lamiaceae
Stachys cretica
L.
Stachys cretica L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 581 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 147, regional subspecies vacillans, mersinea and cassia, Pl. LXX, 1–2; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Perennial. The principal regional account, subsp. vacillans, describes a grey-felted, often woolly plant with erect, unbranched stems.
Leaves: In subsp. vacillans, leaves slightly wrinkled, scalloped and blunt; lower leaves oblong to linear-oblong, narrowed at the base, floral leaves oblong-triangular or shortly lanceolate.
Inflorescence & flowers: In subsp. vacillans, flower clusters are spaced along the stem. Calyx woolly, with a somewhat oblique mouth and triangular-lanceolate teeth, shortly spine-tipped and as long as the tube. Corolla pink, its tube enclosed in the calyx; upper lip straight, notched and woolly.
Regional variation: Mouterde distinguishes subsp. mersinea by its branched, usually paniculate inflorescence; Kew spells the accepted subspecies mersinaea. His subsp. cassia has the upper flower clusters crowded together and a calyx with long-pointed teeth shorter than the tube. Its leaves are described as greener above and more truncate or slightly heart-shaped at the base, although he notes considerable regional overlap with vacillans.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: April–August for subsp. vacillans; summer for subsp. cassia.
Habitat & elevation: Rocky ground for subsp. vacillans; wooded regions for subsp. cassia.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Under subsp. vacillans: Nahr el Kelb, Moukhtara, Aley, Bhamdoun, Sofar, Arbaniye, Jezzine, Jabal Terbol, Bikfaya, Rayfoun, Feitroun, Faraya, Mayrouba, Aqoura, Mghaire–Afqa, Beskinta, Hasroun, Cedars of Hadeth, Dimane–Hasroun, Bechnata, Cedars of Bcharre, Rachaya, Qoubbayat, Baalbeck, Zahle and Wadi el Arayech.
Syrian distribution: Under subsp. vacillans: Anti-Lebanon, Wadi el Qarn, Maaloula spring, Bloudane, Serghaya, Arne, Qalaat el Hosn, south of Safita, Slenfe, Bhamra, Ain Halakim, Qadmous, Atil, Chahba, Machale, Qatma and Aleppo. Under subsp. mersinea: Jabal Semaaane. Under subsp. cassia: Jabal Aqra, woodland below Cassius, Ain Haramiye, south of Kessab and Slenfe.
Recorded locations: Bekish.
Native range: Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., France, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Sicilia, Transcaucasus, Türkiye and Türkiye-in-Europe.
Introduced into: Germany.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
The CMS record is at species level. Mouterde describes regional subspecies separately; those distinctions are retained above, and the recorded Bekish plant is not assigned to a subspecies without further evidence.