Family |
Fabaceae
Trigonella hierosolymitana
Boiss.
Leb. Syr. Pal.
Trigonella hierosolymitana Boiss.
First published in Diagnoses Plantarum Orientalium 9: 15 (1849)
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. XCVI nº 6; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Plant faintly hispid to glabrescent; stems erect or sometimes decumbent. Peduncles longer than the leaves, aristate, bearing numerous flowers.
• Leaves: Stipules lanceolate; leaflets ovate-triangular, dentate at the apex (generic character shared with close relatives).
• Inflorescence & flowers: Clusters of many bright yellow flowers (“fleurs nombreuses, jaune vif”) clearly separating it from T. kotschyi (white) and approaching T. spruneriana. Calyx three times shorter than the corolla; teeth lanceolate, subequal, as long as the tube. Corolla 8–10 mm, with a broad standard.
• Fruit: Numerous pods forming an almost spike-like infructescence along the axis; pods recurved toward the base in a semicircle; laterally reticulated, slightly hispid.
• Phenology: March – May.
• Habitat & elevation: Fields, interior steppes, and dry montane to inland semi-arid regions. Completely absent from the Mediterranean coastal and lower montane belt of Lebanon.
• Lebanese distribution: Beirut (likely adventive), Tripoli (uncertain label); authentic records in higher zones: Ehden, Bcharré, ʿAïnata–Mchaitiyé, Kaukaba–Kfar Houné, and Hermon (Mouterde).
• Syrian distribution: Very widespread from Baalbek, ʿAïn Bourdaï, Bloudane, Saïdnaya, Maʿloula, Zebdani, Ouadi Barada, Dimas–Mayssaloun, Soueida, Aleppo region, Hama, Homs, Palmyra, Jabal Bilas, Qaryatein, and the eastern steppe margins.
• Native range: Lebanon, Syria, Palestine.
• Introduced into: Germany (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note:
– Mouterde emphasises that yellow corollas are diagnostic; dried material often fades to whitish, leading to confusion with T. kotschyi (white-flowered).
– Boissier himself misidentified a T. hierosolymitana collection from Jabal Bilas as typical kotschyi due to this drying artefact.
– The species is characteristic of higher altitudes and interior steppe climates, not Mediterranean zones, and its correct identification requires noting flowers yellow when fresh.