Flora of Israel: Desert spike

Eremostachys laciniata, Phlomis laciniata, Desert spike, Cut leaved phlomis,

Hebrew: צמר מפוצל, Arabic: ذيل الثعلب , هجنبل


Scientific name:		Eremostachys laciniata (L.) Bunge
Synonym name:		Phlomis laciniata L.
Common name:		Desert spike, Cut leaved phlomis
Hebrew name:		צמר מפוצל
Arabic name:		ذيل الثعلب , هجنبل
Plant Family:		Labiatae / Lamiaceae, שפתניים

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}


Life form:		hemicryptophyte
Stems:		30-75cm high, erect, nearly simple stems
Leaves:		Opposite, rosette; entire; dentate or serrate
Flowers:		Cream, yellow, hermaphrodite
Fruits / pods:		schizocarps. Nutlets
Flowering Period:		February, March, April
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}
Derivation of the botanical name:

Eremostachys, eremos, “solitary,” and stachys, “an ear of corn or other grain,” and thus meaning “bearing a single spike.”

laciniata means “slashed or torn into narrow divisions”, and refers to the heavily lobed leaves.
Phlomis, Greek name for some plant without application here to these plants; Jerusalem sage.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
The standard author abbreviation Bunge is used to indicate Alexander Andrejewitsch von Bunge (1803 – 1890), German-Russian botanist.

See the list of Medicinal herbs in Israel, the parts used and their medical uses to treat various diseases.

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}