Phlomis
longifolia
Boissier
& Blanche
Diagn. ser.
2(4):47 (1859)
Distribution
in the wild:
Cyprus?, Lebanon,
Turkey, on limestone slopes and rocks, maquis, Quercus
scrub at 1600-1050 m.
Flowering
in the wild:May–June
longifolia
indicates that it has long leaves.
Some
of the forms in cultivation have a very rich green colour
with a pronounced puckered (rugose) upper surface. Their
flower colour is an egg yoke yellow. In the wild I have
found it very difficult to find one corresponding to the
subspecies bailanica, even in the locus classicus
of Belen in Turkey. The leaf shape and calyx teeth are quite
variable.
Distinguished
from P. viscosa Poiret by the absence of glandular
hairs and stiffer hairs on the bracteoles and calyx.
Eglandular
evergreen shrub to 1.3 m. Green lower leaf laminas, lanceolate
to oblong or ovate, puckered, cordate or sub-cordate at
base, crenulate or crenate-serrate at margin, 3-10 × 1.5-4
cm; petiole to 5 cm. Floral leaves lanceolate to ovate-triangular,
4.5-10 × 2.2-5 cm, petiole to 1 cm. One to three whorls
per stem, to 20 flowered. Whorls 5-7 cm across. Bracteoles
numerous, linear-subulate to linear-lanceolate 8-20 × 1-3
mm, densely bristly. Calyx 15-20 mm, stellate hairy. Teeth
1 to 6 mm and held horizontally. Corolla 30-40 mm, golden
yellow. Nutlets hairless. Hardy to -15°C.
P.
longifolia Boissier & Blanche var.
longifolia
Synonyms:
P.
parvifolia Post
P.
viscosa Poiret var. angustifolia
Boissier
P.
bertrami Post
Basal
leaf laminas 3-5 times as long as broad; calyx teeth 1 -
3 mm.
P.
longifolia var.
bailanica (Vierhapper)
Huber-Morath
Bauhinia 1(2):112
(1958)
Synonym:P. bailanica Vierhapper
Distribution
in the wild:Turkey,
Syria
A
broad leafed form, looking more like P. viscosa
Poiret, but without the glandular hairs.
Basal
leaf laminas 2 times as long as broad; calyx teeth 3 - 6
mm. Most forms labelled P. longifolia var.
bailanica in cultivation are probably P. longifolia
var. longifolia.
