Crepis sancta (L.) Bornm.

Ghazanfar, S. A., Edmondson, J. R. & Hind, D. J. N. (Eds). (2019). Flora of Iraq, Volume 6: Compositae.Kew Publishing

Morphology General Habit

Scapose annual herb with several to many stems 5–60 cm tall

Morphology Leaves

Leaves of basal rosette persistent, subpetiolate, 1–18 × 0.5–4 cm, obovate, oblong or oblanceolate, simple and denticulate to lobed or lyrate-pinnatifid, acute or obtuse, lamina pubescent especially on margins and major veins with eglandular spreading setae, sometimes ± glabrous

Morphology Stem

Stems glabrous to glandular and setose-hairy

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Capitulum

Capitula  rather  few-  to  many-flowered,  borne singly or in cymose groups; involucre (4–)6–11 × (3–)4–7 mm, at first cylindrical, finally campanulate to turbinate, then reflexed after fruit fall

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Phyllaries

Outer  phyllaries  ovate  to  linear, 1.5–2 mm long, broadly white-margined, with spreading glandular and eglandular white or black setae and with or without thin, floccose white hairs; receptacle long-setose, setae persisting after fruit dispersal, very rarely absent

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corollas yellow, 8–12 mm, rays sometimes reddish-tinged dorsally; styles green or yellow

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Achenes 3–5(–7) mm long, outer whitish, compressed, angled or winged, or absent, inner ribbed, rugose or innermost smooth, medium-brown; all achenes truncate or narrowed but not distinctly beaked; pappus not exserted from fruiting involucre, 2.5–4 mm.

Ecology

Open steppe with Poa bulbosa, Stipa tortilis and Artemisia herba-alba, waste ground by roadsides, river banks and damp depressions, hill slopes, on clay, alluvium or sandy conglomerate, also on stony hills and denuded limestone slopes with scattered Quercus; alt. 90–1360 m;

Phenology

flowering & fruiting: Mar.-Jun.

Distribution

Widespread, though only once noted as abundant, in the  mountains  and  foothills  of  Iraq, rarely collected in the desert. SE Europe from Balkans to Crimea (widely naturalised also in western Mediterranean Europe), Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Cyprus, Aegean Is., Turkey, Iran, Caucasus, Afghanistan, Pakistan, C Asia (Turkmenia, Kazakhstan).