Phlomis L.
Genus composed of about 110 species, mainly of Palaearctic distribution. In North Africa it is represented by 7 species and one more from the Sinai Peninsula, of Mediterranean distribution. Of these, only P. caballeroi, P. purpurea and to some extent P. antiatlantica can be considered shrubby. The rest of the species are herbaceous, annual or perennial species, sometimes with slightly woody stems, 2 of them with pink flowers, the other 3 with yellow flowers. The species with pink flowers, sometimes of considerable size (up to 1 m), are:
P. herba-venti L., with much larger leaves (10-15 cm long), also sessile near the inflorescence and with long petioles along the rest of the stems; Eurasian species and from NW Africa (Mediterranean areas of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia).
P. bovei de Noé: it essentially differs by having all leaves with petioles; North African endemic species of Morocco and Algeria, with subsp. maroccana Maire, endemic to the Middle Atlas.
The species with yellow flowers are:
P. crinita Cav. subsp. mauritanica (Munby) Murb.: it can neither be considered shrubby, but is very striking for its large size (up to 1.5 m in height), with whitish-lanate leaves on both sides, with long petioles, calyx with 10 veins and yellow-reddish corolla; Iberian-Maghrebi endemic; the subspecies is endemic to Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
P. floccosa D.Don: a perennial plant, suffruticose, with basal part of stems somewhat woody and a height of 60(80) cm. Young stems and leaves covered with whitish lanate hairs. It is found on the island of Crete and in North Africa from north-central Tunisia to the N of Egypt.
P. aurea Decne. (Ara.: Awarwar, zeheira): also with herbaceous stems but somewhat woody at the base on the oldest specimens, up to 80(100) cm in height. It differs well from other species of the genus by being covered with golden lanate hairs. Endemic species to stony wadis of the Sinai Peninsula.
Rare species (although sometimes locally abundant) and with variable distributions. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In Algeria, P. bovei is included in the List of protected non cultivated flora (Executive Decree 12-03 on 4-Jan-2012). In the Red List of vascular plants of Egypt (Flora Aegyptiaca Vol 1, 2000), P. aurea is listed as “Endangered”.
Peltier J.P. 1976. Une espèce nouvelle de la flore du Maroc : Phlomis antiatlantica. Candollea 31: 5-10.
Key to species
1 All leaves with long petioles. Mediterranean sublittoral and littoral regions 2
1 Leaves sessile at the end of the stems, close to inflorescence, petiolate along the rest of the stem. Endemic to the Anti-Atlas Phlomis antiatlantica
2 Young branchlets green, covered with thin lanate indumentum. Leaves green-glabrous on the upper side. Calyx teeth with equal width and length, with mucro shorter than hairs Phlomis caballeroi
2 Young branchlets reddish, covered with dense lanate indumentum. Adult leaves with whitish-pubescent upper side. Calyx teeth longer than wide, with mucro longer than hairs Phlomis purpurea
Updated by: B. Valdés & J. Charco.