Asteraceae
Scorzonera

Scorzonera schweinfurthii Boiss.

First published in Fl. Orient., Suppl.: 320 (1888)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is E. Medit. to Iraq and Arabian Peninsula. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

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

Morphology General Habit
Scapose or subscapose perennial herb, simple or branched about base, rootstock a large ovoid or oblong-ovoid tuber c. 5–9 × 2.5–3.5 cm, base of plant with a few scaly remains of previous years’ leaf-sheaths but no distinct collar; vegetative parts ±densely arachnoid with close, fine stellate hairs, glabrescent with age
Morphology Leaves
Leaves mostly from base, linear, c. 8–30 × (1–)1.75–5 mm (lowest leaves rarely wider), flexuose and apex sometimes hamate, margins entire to undulate, with a conspicuous midrib and 1–2 obscure veins on each side, upper leaves not conspicuously reduced
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Involucre
Involucre narrowly cylindrical or ovoid-cylindrical; outer phyllaries ovate, 6–8(–10) mm, inner phyllaries oblong-lanceolate, (14–)17–20 mm in flower, (26–)30–34 mm in fruit, all phyllaries moderately to densely stellate-arachnoid especially along margins and apex and obtuse or bluntly pointed in flower, somewhat glabrescent and sometimes more acute in fruit
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Florets 17–22(–27) mm; ligules 12–15(–17) mm, yellow, marginal with reddish stripes and often ± reddish-suffused dorsally
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Achenes 13–20 mm, glabrous, cylindrical, ribbed, outer sublamellate-rugose, inner rugose or smooth; pappus 20–26 mm, hairs barbellate above, plumose below, deep-stramineous to dark  purplish- brown.
Ecology
On rocky low hills, rocky gullies from the desert plateau, in silty or sandy gravelly depressions, in wadi, on clay and gravelly degraded steppe and by dry roadsides; alt. 130–710 m;
Phenology
flowering & fruiting: Mar.-Jun.
Distribution
Common in the Western Desert region of Iraq. Jordan, Saudi Arabia.
[FIQ]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Iraq

    • Ghazanfar, S. A., Edmondson, J. R. (Eds). (2013-2019). Flora of Iraq, Volumes 5.1, 5.2 and 6.0. Kew Publishing
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images