Family |
Lamiaceae
Thymbra capitata
(L.) Cav.
Thymbra capitata (L.) Cav.
(Elench. Pl. Horti Matr.: 37, 1803; ≡ Satureja capitata L.; = Coridothymus capitatus (L.) Reichenb.; Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 191; Pl. XCII nº 7; 1983)
• Life-form & habit: Small, rigid, much-branched undershrub, usually < 30 cm tall; sterile branchlets thick, connivent, ending in short spines. Stems canescent, rigid.
• Leaves: Opposite, small, sessile, linear-lanceolate, rigid, dotted with glands, pubescent at base.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers in dense, globose to ovoid terminal heads; floral bracts subulate, often plumose, much longer than calyces and protruding. Calyx compressed dorsally, 20–22-nerved, lobes triangular-subulate; corolla pink to purplish, tube shortly exserted; anthers exserted.
• Fruit: Nutlets ovoid, smooth.
• Phenology: Flowers May–October.
• Habitat & elevation: Coastal habitats, rocky and sandy soils, sea cliffs; rare inland.
• Lebanese distribution: Coastal littoral from Khaldé, Beirut (south sands), Batroun, Chekka; also reported inland from Mekine, Souq el-Gharb, Hammana.
• Syrian distribution: Coastal Lattaquié and Ras Bassit.
• Native range: Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Corsica, Crete, Cyprus, East Aegean Islands, France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon–Syria, Morocco, Palestine, Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Turkey, Turkey-in-Europe, Tunisia (POWO).