Family |
Plantaginaceae
Veronica leiocarpa
Boiss.
Leb. Pal. Tur. Jor.
Veronica leiocarpa Boiss.
First published in Diagn. Pl. Orient. 12: 45 (1853).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 247–248, Pl. CXXI, 4; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Perennial herb, 30–70 cm tall, simple or slightly branched at the base, with robust, erect stems bearing short curled hairs.
Leaves: Somewhat rigid, sessile or nearly so, broadly lanceolate to ovate, usually 25–45 mm long and 8–22 mm wide. Bases are rounded, truncate or slightly heart-shaped; margins are deeply, often doubly, saw-toothed.
Inflorescence & flowers: Usually 2–4 opposite, erect racemes, each with 40–100 closely spaced flowers. The pale-blue or pale-violet corolla is 10–16 mm across and clearly exceeds the narrow-lobed calyx.
Fruit: Broadly elliptic to nearly rounded capsule, 4–6 mm long, usually shallowly notched at the top, with prominent veins; hairy or hairless.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Flowering April–May.
Habitat & elevation: Open oak and pine woods, maquis, scrub, grassy places and rocky slopes, from sea level to about 900 m.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Nahr Beirut, lower Nahr Ibrahim, Mar Roukhos, Beirut, Tripoli, Ain Anoub, Bzoummar, Beit Khachbo, Ghosta, Mar Ghaia, Broummana, Chemlan, Mar Abda, Ghazir, Khan el Jamhour–Khan el Birke, Jamhour, Baabda, Bikfaya, above Ain Alaq, Abey, Rayfoun, below Beit Meri, Qoubbariye, Debs brickworks, Hakel, Jabal Nika, Mount Hermon and Kfertay.
Syrian distribution: Jisr ech Chogour, Haffe, Kessab forest, south of Kessab, Kessab–Bassit road, Jabal Aqra, Ain el Haramiye, Bassit forest and Soueida.
Native range: Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Türkiye.