Family |
Fabaceae
Vavilovia formosa
(Steven) Fed.
Vavilovia formosa (Steven) Fed.
First published in Trudy Bot. Inst. Armjansk. Fil. Akad. Nauk SSSR 1: 52 (1939).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 432, Pl. CLXXIX, 2; 1970)
Description
Life-form & habit: Perennial with a long, deeply buried rhizome and elongated underground stems producing short, simple or briefly branched shoots 6–10 cm above the ground.
Leaves: One pair of rounded, entire, strongly veined leaflets on a stalk ending in a short bristle. Stipules very small, oblong and shorter than the leaf stalk.
Inflorescence & flowers: Single-flowered stalks clearly longer than the leaves. Flowers red, 6–10 mm long, often spreading or hanging.
Fruit: Smooth, faintly net-veined pods containing smooth, ovate seeds.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: June–September.
Habitat & elevation: Scree in the high mountains.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Sannine, Ain el Qarn, Makmel, Foumm el Mizhab and Qornet es Saouda. Sannine and Makmel are also represented in the recorded locations.
Native range: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Türkiye.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Kew treats Vavilovia formosa (Steven) Fed. as a synonym of Lathyrus formosus (Steven) Kenicer, first published in Lathyrus Guide: 419 (2021). Mouterde uses Pisum formosum, attributing it to Steven; Kew cites that combination as Pisum formosum (Steven) Alef. The native range follows Kew's accepted Lathyrus formosus record.