6.

Fig. 11

Verbascum luntii Baker, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew (93): 337 (1894), syn. nov. – Type: Yemen, Hillsides at Alrail, 28 December 1893, W. Lunt 119 (lectotype K [K 000975903] designated here).

Type.

Yemen, Bilad Fodhli, ad fauces australes montis el- ’ Areys, circa Serrya, 24 April 1893, A. Deflers 868 (lectotype G [G 00343570] designated here, isolectotypes MPU [MPU 020131] & [MPU 020130]).

Description.

Perennial herb, yellowish green, simple, or usually branched from above, up to 2 m tall. Indumentum dense tomentose with stellate hairs. Stems erect, robust, terete. Basal leaves rosette, lanceolate, 10–20 × 3–8 cm, apex acute, base obtuse, margins crenate, lamina yellowish green with densely tomentose with stellate hairs; petiole 2–4 cm. Cauline leaves lanceolate, 4–8 × 1–3 cm, apex acute, base obtuse; sessile. Inflorescence panicle; with clusters of 2–8 flowers in the axil of bracts. Upper bracts linear, 5–15 mm, acute. Lower bracts linear, 30–50 mm, acute. Pedicel covered with densely tomentose with stellate hairs up to 6 mm long. Bracteoles present, linear, acute. Calyx 4–7 mm, lobes linear, acute, densely tomentose with stellate hairs. Corolla 15–20 mm across, yellow, without pellucid glands, tube up to 2 mm, densely tomentose with stellate hairs outside. Stamens 4 – 5 or 7 (unstable), 5–6 mm long. Filaments orange to yellow with yellowish-white hairs, two anterior glabrous near the apex, three posteriors with hairs up to anthers. Anthers all reniform. Ovary ellipsoid, dense tomentose with stellate hairs. Style up to 8 mm long, filiform, green. Stigma spatulate. Capsule 4–8 × 3–4 mm, ellipsoid, dense tomentose with stellate hairs. Seeds bothrospermous.

Distribution in the Arabian Peninsula.

It is an endemic species to the Arabian Peninsula, which is known from Yemen in Abyan (Jabal Areys) and Hadhramaut (Alrail), and from Saudi Arabia in Taif (Red Mountain and near Al-Hada), Al-Baha (Al-Abna Road, Heznah Road, and near Wadi Shora), Abha (Jabal Al-Soudah, Wadi Namra, and near Tanomah), and Jizan (Jabal Al-Qahar), in southwestern Arabian Peninsula (Fig. 12).

Ecology.

Verbascum longibracteatum grows on roadsides, rocky slopes, and edges of wadis at altitudes ranging from 300 to 2750 m. Associated plants include Anagyris foetida L., Astragalus atropilosulus (Hochst.) Bunge, Coleus arabicus Benth., Juniperus procera Hochst. ex Endl., Pentas lanceolata (Forssk.) Deflers, Rumex nervosus Vahl, Rumex vesicarius L., Vachellia johnwoodii (Boulos) Ragup., Seigler, Ebinger & Maslin, and Vachellia origena (Hunde) Kyal. & Boatwr.

Vernacular name.

Zohara (Arabic).

Phenology.

Flowering and fruiting from March to May.

Etymology.

The name refers to the species’ long bracts, a distinctive characteristic.

Specimens examined.

Saudi Arabia. • Abha: Jabal Soudah, northwest of Abha, 10 March 1980, I. S. Collenette 2049 (K); near Al Hasane, 98 km from the Abha to Najran road, 22 November 1985, I. S. Collenette 5525 (E [E 00066946]); near Tanomah, 02 May 1985, I. S. Collenette 7170 (K); between Abha and Jabal Soudah, 17 October 1981, I. S. Collenette 2964 (E [E 00066947]); Wadi Namra, 23 April 1982, A. C. Podzorski 1068 (E [E 00687345]). • Al-Baha: Al-Abna Road, 7 km S of Baljurashi, 24 February 1994, I. S. Collenette 9015 (K); Al-Abna Road, 5 km S of Baljurashi, 17 April 1983, I. S. Collenette 4330 (K); between Baljurashi and Maquas, 08 August 1982, P. König & H. Kürschner 82 / 2125 (E [E 00687346]); Heznah Road between Al-Makhwah and Baljurashi, 15 March 2021, A. Alzahrani 170 (MUZ); Al-Abna road between Al-Awamer and Baljurashi, 15 March 2021, A. Alzahrani 171 (MUZ); Al-Baha – Abha road, near Wadi Shora, Baljurashi, 13 March 2021, A. Alzahrani 167 (MUZ). • Jizan: Jabal Al-Qahar, 07 May 1990, I. S. Collenette 7544 (K); Jabal Al-Qahar, 5500 ft, 29 April 1989, I. S. Collenette 7157 (K); Jabal Al-Qahar, 12 February 2021, A. Alzahrani 144 (MUZ). • Taif: 5 km southwest of Al-Hada, 26 March 1979 I. S. Collenette 1090 (K); Al-Hada, 20 March 1980 I. S. Collenette 2169 (K); third way of Jeddah Taif Road, 19 February 1980 I. S. Collenette 1891 (K); Red Mountain, near Al-Hada, 10 February 1982, I. S. Collenette 3222 (E [E 00066945], K).

Yemen. • Abyan: Jabal Areys, 11 February 1989, A. G. Miller, L. Guarino, N. Obadi, M. Hassan & N. Mohammed 8103 (E [E 00066963]); Bilad Fodhli, ad fauces australes montis el- ’ Areys, circa Serrya, 24 April 1893, A. Deflers 868 (isosyn. MPU [MPU 020130]); Bilad Fodhli, in Wadi el- ’ Areys (6 km ad orient. urb. Schughra), 23 March 1890, A. Deflers 441 (isosyn. MPU [MPU 020132]). • Hadhramaut: Hillsides at Alrail, 28 December 1893, W. Lunt 119 (K [K 000975903]).

Notes.

Deflers (1896) cited several gatherings in the protologue; all constitute original material. Among these, the specimen Deflers 868 preserved at G is designated here as the lectotype because it is the most complete and best matches the diagnostic features given in the protologue. The duplicates at MPU are treated as isolectotypes.