Family |
Styracaceae
Styrax officinalis
L.
Styrax officinalis L.
First published in Sp. Pl.: 444 (1753).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 19, Pl. XI, 1; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Shrub or small tree, 2–6 m tall.
Leaves: Stalked, ovate and entire, hairless or nearly so above and densely felted beneath.
Inflorescence & flowers: Few-flowered clusters at the ends of short branches; flowers spread or hang downward. Flower stalks and calyces are grey-hairy. The white, hairy corolla has lobes 3–4 times longer than the calyx; stamens number about 12.
Fruit: Fruit opening at the apex by valves.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering March–May.
Habitat & elevation: Rocky ground and slopes in the Mediterranean zone, reaching about 1,600 m or higher.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Beirut, Tripoli, Nahr Beirut, Nahr Ibrahim, Khanchara, Choueir, Bikfaya, Ghazir, Chahtoul, Beit Meri, Broummana, Aley, Qrayye, Douma, Barouk cedars, Ain Zehalta cedars, Machnaqa, Ehden, Ban, Hadchit, the foot of Mount Hermon, Fraikeh, Bqaatouta and Kfertay.
Syrian distribution: Banias, Nahr el Kebir, Bhamra, Masyaf pass, Froulok, Ain Haramiye, near Arne, near Damascus and Hamme.
Native range: Albania, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Greece, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe.
Introduced into: France.