Family |
Lamiaceae
Stachys ehrenbergii
Boiss.
Endemic to Lebanon
Stachys ehrenbergii Boiss.
(First published in Fl. Orient. 4: 721; 1879. Treated in Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 147, Pl. LXIX nº 2; 1984)
• Life-form & habit: Canescent perennial, 50 – 100 cm tall, with simple or slightly branched stems, robust and upright.
• Leaves: Wrinkled, crenate; lower leaves petiolate, ovate-cordate at base, very obtuse; upper floral leaves oblong, exceeding the flowers.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Pseudo-verticillasters all spaced; bracts subulate, shorter than the calyx. Calyx woolly, with a slightly oblique throat, accrescent in fruit; teeth ovate, long-spinulose but soft, the lower ones shorter and narrower. Corolla very hispid, upper lip retuse.
• Fruit: Nutlets ovoid, smooth.
• Phenology: Flowers June – September.
• Habitat & elevation: Rocky mountain slopes and high-altitude areas.
• Lebanese distribution: Jabal Kneissé, Jabal Sannine (near Qalaʿat el-Fakhra, Faraya, Nebaʿ el-Laban, Yamouné to Dimane, Les Cèdres, Col des Cèdres, Foumm el-Mizhab, Kafroun par Bcharré, Jourd Tannourine, Source de la Qadicha, Ehden).
• Native range: Endemic to Lebanon.
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: A distinct Lebanese mountain species of the Stachys libanotica group, characterized by its soft spinulose calyx teeth and hispid corolla. Sometimes confused with S. eretica subsp. vacillans but distinguished by its larger flowers and non-lanate pubescence.