Hypericum libanoticum, commonly referred to as the Lebanese St. John's-wort, is a perennial herbaceous plant species within the genus Hypericum and the family Hypericaceae. The species was first typified and taxonomically described by the British botanist Norman Robson in 1970 within Paul Mouterde's botanical compendium Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie. Endemic to specific high-altitude limestone terrains of the Levant, the plant is primarily distributed across the mountain ranges of Lebanon and southwestern Syria.
Description Hypericum libanoticum is a glabrous, suffrutescent perennial herb that features multiple sterile, densely leafed stems clustered tightly at its base. The floriferous stems are erect or ascending, reaching heights of approximately 60 centimetres, and are marked longitudinally by two faint lines. The primary leaves of the floriferous stems are relatively small, measuring 4 to 15 millimetres in length and 1 to 2 millimetres in width, and frequently display a curved profile. The margins of the leaves are more or less convolute, terminating in an apex that is either rounded or abruptly apiculate. Structurally, the leaf lamina is densely covered with transparent, pellucid punctures (internal glands). The lower sections of the flowering stems and the basal sterile shoots possess distinct axillary fascicles.
The inflorescence forms a elongated, narrowly pyramidal to spike-like cyme. The blossoms feature pale golden-yellow petals, measuring between 6 and 10 millimetres in length. These petals are unguiculate (clawed) at the base, and their margins are shortly black-glandular-ciliate or lined with subsessile black glands, while the limb itself is pellucid-punctate. The long stamens are arranged in a triadelphous configuration (fused into three bundles). The resulting fruit is an ovoid to ovoid-pyramidal capsule measuring 4 to 6 millimetres long, which is faintly striate and possesses three divergent or recurved style bases. The seeds are brown, papillose, curved-cylindric, and measure approximately 2 millimetres. Hypericum libanoticum undergoes its flowering cycle during the summer months, with anthesis occurring between May and August.
Hypericum libanoticum is morphologically related to Hypericum retusum. It is distinguished diagnostically from H. retusum by a total absence of black punctation across its stems, leaves, sepals, and petals. Furthermore, its leaves are entirely eglandular at the apex, and its petals are only shortly ciliate with black glands restricted exclusively to the margins.
Distribution and habitat The species is native to the temperate Asian microclimates of the Western Levant, specifically restricted to Lebanon and Syria. It primarily colonizes rocky, wooded limestone slopes and montane scree environments at elevations ranging between 1,700 and 1,800 metres above sea level.
Within Lebanon, recorded populations are localized across both the Mount Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, with documented concentrations in Jba'ah, Maasser Al-Chouf, Jabal Barouk, the Cedars of Ain Zhalta, Jabal al-Knayseh, Jabal Sannine, Hasroun, Zahlé, Wadi El-Arayesh, Yammoune, and the broader Beqaa Valley. In Syria, its distribution is confined to the Anti-Lebanon range, specifically on the upper slopes of Mount Hermon, Bloudan, Zabadani, Wadi Abou-el-Hom, Wadi-el-Harir, and Wadi-el-Qarn. The botanical type specimen was gathered from the western slopes above Ain Zhalta at an elevation of 1,700–1,800 metres by J. Bornmüller (Specimen ID: Bornmüller 11533).
See also List of Hypericum species Flora of Lebanon
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