Family |
Fabaceae
Trifolium farayense
Mouterde
Leb. Syr.
Trifolium farayense Mouterde
First published in Nouv. Fl. Liban Syrie 2: 688 (1970).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, pp. 688–689, Pl. CCCXXVI, 5 and CVII, 3b; 1970)
Description
Life-form & habit: Annual herb with spreading or ascending, sparsely hairy stems 10–30 cm long.
Leaves: Leaflets ovate-oblong, pale green to slightly greyish and hairy, usually 10–12 mm long but sometimes only 6 mm. Stipules short, with a sharply pointed lanceolate free portion.
Inflorescence & flowers: Heads borne on long stalks. Calyx tube pale and ribbed, about 1 mm long; teeth 3–4 mm long, strongly bristly near the base and each with a single vein. Corolla white, two to three times as long as the calyx, with a long-tapering standard.
Fruit: Fruiting calyx star-shaped, with spreading teeth prominently marked by a single pale vein. Its throat is almost completely closed by a white, membrane-like lid, leaving only a narrow straight slit.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Faraya, the Zahle pass, Zahle and Tannourine.
Syrian distribution: Zabadani and Bloudane.
Native range: Lebanon-Syria.