Flora-Fauna

Verbascum antiochium Boiss. & Heldr.

First published in P.E.Boissier, Diagn. Pl. Orient. 12: 9 (1853).

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, p. 217, Pl. CII, 2; 1983)

Description

Life-form & habit: Biennial or perennial, 60–120 cm tall. Lower parts with a rough grey-yellow covering becoming hairless; upper parts glandular. Stems robust, cylindrical, simple or sparingly branched.

Leaves: Basal leaves on stalks 2–7 cm long; blades oblong or oval, 8–18 × 3–10 cm, blunt, rounded or wedge-shaped at the base, with variably distinct scalloped margins. Stem leaves similar but smaller, scalloped or entire.

Inflorescence & flowers: Loose, spike-like inflorescence, usually simple, occasionally with a few branches. Flowers clustered in groups of four to nine in the bract axils. Bracts oval or lanceolate; flower stalks absent or very short, with lanceolate bracteoles. Calyx 6–9 mm, felted and glandular, with pointed lanceolate lobes. Corolla yellow, 20–30 mm across, without translucent dots, felted outside. Five stamens with centrally attached anthers and purple-violet-haired filaments.

Fruit: Broadly oval to nearly spherical capsule, 6–8 × 5–7 mm, initially felted and becoming hairless.

Flowering and habitat

Phenology: April–August.

Habitat & elevation: Rocks and ruins.

Distribution

Lebanese distribution: Neba Succar.

Syrian distribution: Between Rachaya and Damascus, Kessab and above Kessab.

Recorded locations: Wadi el Salib.

Native range: Lebanon-Syria and Türkiye.