Family |
Asteraceae
Tolpis virgata
(Desf.) Bertol.
Tolpis virgata (Desf.) Bertol.
(Mém. Soc. Méd. Emul. Gen. 2: 135; 1803 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CCXCV nº 2; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Annual or short-lived perennial herb, 10–50 cm tall, with a slender taproot. Stems erect to ascending, simple or sparsely branched above, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, often reddish at the base.
• Leaves: Basal leaves forming a loose rosette, oblanceolate to narrowly spatulate, 4–10 × 0.5–1.5 cm, margin entire or remotely denticulate; cauline leaves smaller, linear-lanceolate, sessile, alternate. Surfaces green to grey-green, glabrous or sparsely hairy.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Capitula solitary or few, on long, slender peduncles. Involucre cylindrical to narrowly campanulate, 10–15 mm long, with 10–12 outer bracts short and appressed, inner ones linear-lanceolate, green with brown margins. Ligulate florets yellow, often turning reddish or orange-brown with age; outer florets sometimes reddish beneath.
• Fruit: Achenes 3–4 mm, fusiform, 10-ribbed, dark brown; pappus simple, of unequal rigid bristles, whitish to tawny.
• Phenology: Flowers and fruits from March to June.
• Habitat & elevation: Dry rocky slopes, open fields, and disturbed ground on limestone or marl, from the coast to c. 1 500 m.
• Lebanese distribution: Frequent along the coastal and lower montane zones; recorded by Mouterde from Beirut, Saida, Tripoli, Bikfaya, and the Beqaa foothills up to Falougha and Barouk.
• Native range: Albania, Algeria, Corse, East Aegean Islands, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon–Syria, Libya, NW. Balkan Peninsula, Palestine, Sardegna, Sicilia, Sudan–South Sudan, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: A polymorphic Mediterranean species, variable in size and pubescence. Sometimes divided into subspecies (T. virgata subsp. biflora, subsp. gracilis) based on involucral shape and floret colour, but intermediates are common in the Levant. Distinguished from T. barbata by its narrower involucre and absence of a conspicuous outer ligule fringe.