Flora of Israel: Golden – Drop

Podonosma orientalis, Podonosma syriacum, Onosma orientalis, Golden Drop,

Hebrew: מציץ סורי, Arabic: مصيص

Scientificname:   Podonosma orientalis (L.) Feinbrun, Podonosma orientalis (L.) Feinbrun,
Podonosma syriacum (Labill.) Boiss.
Synonymc name:   Onosma orientalis (L.) L.
Common name:   Golden – Drop
Hebrew name:   מציץ סורי
Arabic name:   مصيص
Family:   Boraginaceae, זיפניים


Life form:   Chamaephyte
Stems:   Rouns, hispid
Leaves:   Alternate, sessile, entire, hispid, with green or whitish hairs
Flowers:   Flowers on stalks; Corolla cylindrical, acute; yellow, light blue, White, in a terminal double cluster
Fruits / pods:   Pericarpium, pendulous, seeds 4, erect, ovate-triangular, length and width subequal, adaxially usually ribbed, abaxially slightly convex; attachment scar basal.
Flowering Period:   February, March, April, May, June
Habitat:   Hard rock outcrops
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Derivation of the botanical name:

Podonosma, pous, pod πουϛ, ποδοϛ, foot; onosma for stone bugloss. The Onosma genus has been divided into three sections: Protonosma, Podonosma and Onosma.

orientalis, from the Orient; Eastern.
syriacum, Syrian.
The Hebrew name: מציץ, mazits, from מצץ = to suck.

  • 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 Feinbrun is used to indicate Naomi Feinbrun-Dothan (1900 – 1995), an Israeli botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Labill. is used to indicate Jacques Labillardière (1755 – 1834), a French naturalist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.