17 a.

Fig. 32

Description.

Perennial herb, yellowish green, simple, or branched from above, up to 80 cm tall. Indumentum glabrescent or sparse stellate hairs above and dense stellate hairs below. Stems erect, terete. Basal leaves rosette, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 2–11 × 3–5 cm, apex acute, base obtuse or truncate, margins repand-crenulate, lamina yellowish green with dense stellate hairs; petiole 2–6 cm. Cauline leaves lanceolate, 1.5–4 × 0.5–1 cm, apex acute-attenuate, base cuneate; sessile or petiole up to 1 cm. Inflorescence racemose forming panicle; one or clusters of 2–4 flowers in the axil of bracts. Upper bracts linear, 5–7 mm, acute. Lower bracts linear-lanceolate, 10–15 mm, acute. Pedicel glabrescent or sparse stellate hairs up to 5 mm long. Bracteoles absent. Calyx 3–4 mm, lobes linear, acute, glabrescent, or sparse stellate. Corolla 15–20 mm across, yellow, without pellucid glands, tube up to 1 mm, glabrous inside, sparse stellate hairs outside. Stamens 4–5 or 6 (unstable), 3–5 mm long. Filaments orange with yellowish hairs, two anterior glabrous near the apex, three posteriors with hairs up to anthers. Anthers all reniform. Ovary ellipsoid-ovoid, sparse stellate hairy. Style up to 6 mm long, filiform, green. Stigma spatulate. Capsule 3–4 × 1–3 mm, ellipsoid-ovoid, sparse stellate hairy. Seeds bothrospermous.

Distribution in the Arabian Peninsula.

It is an endemic species to the Arabian Peninsula, which is known from Yemen in Sana’a (Shibam, Jabal An Nabi Shu’ayb, between Sana’a and Walan, Dhamar Road, Beit El-Ghofr, and North Haz), Hajjah (Jabal Jabar), Ibb (Yarim), and Amran (south of Khamr), and from Saudi Arabia in Abha (near Al-Jarrah National Park, north of Alaya, Al-Namas, Tanomah, between Tatlith and Khamis Mushayt, Najran Road, Al-Soudah Road, Al-Soudah, Jabal Mna’a, and King Faisal Road between Bani Amr and Al-Namas), Taif (near Bani Saad, Wadi Thi Ghazal, and Ash Shafa), and Jizan (Jabal Al-Aswad), southwestern the Arabian Peninsula (Fig. 33).

Ecology.

Verbascum yemense grows on roadsides and abandoned gardens at altitudes ranging from 1800 to 2500 m. Associated plants include Anthemis yemensis Podlech, Erica arborea L., Felicia abyssinica var. schimperi (Steud. & Hochst. ex Jaub. & Spach) Mesfin, Lavandula citriodora A. G. Mill., Maesa lanceolata Forssk., Plantago lanceolata L., and Vachellia origena (Hunde) Kyal. & Boatwr.

Phenology.

Flowering and fruiting from March to November.

Etymology.

The name refers to the species’ occurrence in Yemen.

Specimens examined.

Saudi Arabia. • Abha: An Nimas, Taif-Abha Road, Abha, 28 April 1985, I. S. Collenette 5321 (E [E 00066941], K); 40–42 km S of Abha, near Al-Jarrah National Park and Tamniah village, 24 May 1980, L. Boulos & A. S. Ads 14259 (K); Talha Camp, old mine at Arjh, 02 April 1974, I. S. Collenette 231 (K); Asir Mts. just below summit of ridge, 1972, I. S. Collenette 184 (K); 18 km north of Alaya, 23 April 1990, I. S. Collenette 7462 (E [E 00066961], K); 10 miles east of Hamdah camp, between Tatlith and Khamis Mushayt, 25 March 1977, I. S. Collenette 53 (K); Al-Namas, 28 April 1985, I. S. Collenette 5321 (E [E 00066941], K); Tanomah, 13 April 1979, I. S. Collenette 1348 (K); 15 miles east of Hamdah camp, between Tatlith and Khamis Mushayt, 25 March 1977, I. S. Collenette 71 (K); 70 km, S. E. of Abha, on road to Najran, 14 March 1980, J. J. Lavranos & I. S. Collenette 18341 (E [E 00066937]); 15 km N of Abha, 21 April 1984, I. S. Collenette 4915 (E [E 00066938]); Asir above Dhahran, 12 May 1946, W. Thesiger s. n. (BM); Soda, 10 August 1952, J. D. Tothill 147 (BM); Al-Soudah Road, Al-Soudah, 20 March 2021, A. Alzahrani 177 (MUZ); Jabal Mna’a, Tanomah, 20 March 2021, A. Alzahrani 179 (MUZ); King Faisal Road between Bani Amr and Al-Namas, 15 March 2021, A. Alzahrani 172 (MUZ). • Taif: Near Ash Shafa, Wadi Thi Ghazal, 20 March 1991, I. S. Collenette 7716 (E [E 00090893], K); near Bani Saad, 11 March 2021, A. Alzahrani 161 (MUZ); Wadi Thi Ghazal, Ash Shafa, 10 March 2021, A. Alzahrani 156 (MUZ). • Jizan: Jabal Al-Aswad, 13 February 2021, A. Alzahrani 145 (MUZ).

Yemen. • Sana’a: Shibam, 01 June 1977, J. R. I Wood 1669 (BM, K); Haddah, 07 November 1975, F. N. Hepper 6299 (K); Jabal An Nabi Shu’ayb, 20 September 1978, A. G. Miller 143 (E [E 00066954], K); roadside at Kilo 22 between Sana’a and Walan, 14 December 1977, J. R. I Wood 2158 (BM, K); roadside at Sana’a to Dhamar Road, 10 October 1974, J. M. Ritchie 62 (E [E 00066953]); Jabal An Nabi Shu’ayb, near Yazil, 07 December 1979, J. R. I Wood 3097 (E [E 00066956]); Beit El-Ghofr, North Haz, 04 February 1938, H. Scott & E. B. Britton 494 (BM). • Hajjah: Jabal Jabar, 06 June 1946, W. Thesiger s. n. (BM). • Ibb: Yarim, 27 September 1972, J. R. I Wood 35 (BM). • Amran: 1 mile south of Khamr, 27 August 1975, J. R. I Wood 75 / 600 (BM).

Notes.

Verbascum yemense is a variable species occurring in the southwestern Arabian Peninsula. Al-Hemaid (2001) described V. asiricum and V. chaudharyanum from the same region based on this variation. However, phylogenetic analyses (Alzahrani et al. 2024) and detailed comparisons of their type specimens indicate that the three names represent the same taxonomic entity. All share glabrescent or sparsely stellate hairs above and dense stellate hairs below, paniculiform inflorescences with single flowers or clusters of 2–4, yellowish filament hairs, and an ellipsoid-ovoid capsule with sparse stellate hairs. Thus, V. chaudharyanum is treated as a synonym of V. yemense, and V. asiricum as a variety.