Flora-Fauna

Ziziphora capitata subsp. orientalis Rech.f.

First published in Arkiv för Botanik, ser. 2, 1: 535 (1951)

(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, under Ziziphora capitata L.; vol. 3, Pl. LXXXVII nº 2; 1983)

• Life-form & habit: Annual, aromatic herb 5–20 cm tall; stems erect or ascending, simple or branched, finely pubescent.

• Leaves: Linear-lanceolate to narrowly elliptic; margins entire; surfaces shortly pubescent; upper leaves smaller and often subbracteiform.

• Inflorescence & flowers: Inflorescence a terminal globose head c. 1–1.5 cm in diameter. Bracts ovate, long-ciliate on the margin. Calyx tubular, 5–6 mm, slightly curved, with 5 subequal teeth. Corolla pale violet to lilac, exceeding the calyx.

• Fruit: Four smooth nutlets.

• Phenology: May – July.

• Habitat & elevation: Dry rocky slopes, steppe edges, disturbed mountain foothills, and open scrub.

• Lebanese distribution: Recorded from Bcharré, Hadeth, Ehden, Qannoubine, Hasroun, Jabal Kneissé, Barouk, Aïn Zehalta, Dahr el-Baïdar, and upper Beqaa localities such as Chtaura and Jdita (Mouterde).

• Native range: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Turkmenistan, Türkiye (POWO).

• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: The subspecies orientalis corresponds to the eastern Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian form of Z. capitata, characterized by slightly larger heads, more prominent ciliation on the bracts, and a tendency toward more compact terminal capitula. It replaces the western Mediterranean subsp. capitata in the Levant.