Flora-Fauna

Taraxacum cyprium H.Lindb.

First published in Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae, Ser. B, Opera Biologica 2: 36 (1946)

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3; 1983)

• Life-form & habit: Perennial herb with a thickened taproot and a basal rosette of leaves; scapes hollow, latex-bearing, glabrous or sparsely hairy.

• Leaves: Oblanceolate to narrowly spatulate, pinnatifid with triangular or oblong lobes; margins dentate to runcinate; both surfaces glabrous or with scattered hairs.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Capitula solitary, borne on erect scapes; involucre of two series, outer bracts reflexed at anthesis, inner erect; ligules bright yellow with a reddish or purplish tinge beneath.

• Fruits: Achenes pale brown, striate, gradually attenuate into a slender beak about as long as the body, crowned by a white pappus.

• Phenology: Flowers and fruits from spring to early summer.

• Habitat & elevation: Montane grasslands, open rocky slopes, and disturbed pastures, typically at higher elevations.

• Lebanese distribution: Reported by Mouterde from the montane zones of central Mount Lebanon, including Jabal Sannine and the Makmel range.

• Native range: Cyprus, Lebanon–Syria, Palestine (POWO).

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: A complex Mediterranean–Levantine taxon; Lebanese specimens fall within the morphological circumscription of T. cyprium sensu Lindberg, differing slightly in achene size and degree of leaf division.