Family |
Brassicaceae
Turritis laxa
(Sm.) Hayek
Turritis laxa (Sm.) Hayek
First published in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 30(1): 402 (1925).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 137, Pl. LII, 1–2; 1970)
Description
Life-form & habit: Biennial herb with a tall, more or less branched stem 20–80 cm high, glaucous foliage and slight hairiness at the stem base, sometimes extending upwards.
Leaves: Basal leaves entire or lyre-shaped in a rosette; stem leaves arrow-shaped at the base and clasping the stem.
Inflorescence & flowers: Loose raceme with flower stalks generally longer than both calyx and corolla. Sepals yellowish or whitish; petals creamy white, 5–6 mm long.
Fruit: Flattened, more or less curved siliques 10–14 cm long. Fruiting stalks spread in the typical form and bend downwards, with reflexed fruits, in var. cremocarpa.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: March–May.
Habitat & elevation: Wooded places and scrub.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Mouterde assigns the Lebanese records to var. cremocarpa: Bikfaya, Feitroun, Hammana, Jezzine, Bchela, south of Michmich, Aramoun, Machnaqa, Aytanit, Ammiq, Hasbaya and Anti-Lebanon. Also recorded at Kfertay.
Syrian distribution: Ain Haramiye, Froulok, Kessab, Cassius, Qadmous and Slenfe.
Native range: Cyprus, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Palestine, Transcaucasus, Türkiye.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Mouterde describes this species under Arabis laxa, a synonym confirmed by Kew. Kew retains Turritis laxa var. cremocarpa (Boiss. & Balansa) Mutlu as an accepted variety; the geographic range above is that of the whole species.