Israel wildflowers | Oriental Viper’s Grass

Scorzonera papposa, Oriental Viper’s Grass,
Hebrew: הרדופנין הציצית, Arabic: ربحلة – حبردول – ربحلي


Scientific name:		Scorzonera papposa DC.
Common name:		Oriental Viper’s Grass
Hebrew name:		הרדופנין הציצית
Arabic name:		ربحلة – حبردول – ربحلي
Plant Family:		Compositae / Asteraceae, מורכבים

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}


Life form:		Hemicryptophyte
Stems:		10-40 cm tall, usually branched from base, leafy
Leaves:		Alternate, rosette, entire
Inflorescence:		Heads liguliflorous, large, 1–many
Flowers:		Pink
Fruits / pods:		Achenes 6-8 mm long, soft, white hairy
Flowering Period:		March, April, May
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype, טיפוס התפוצה:		Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

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

Scorzonera, from Old French scorzon, a snake; possibly from the use of its root as a cure for snakebite.

papposa, from the Latin for “with pappus.”
The Hebrew name: הרדופנין, hardophnin [Post Biblical Hebrew] Scorzonera, from Greek rododaphne; from rodon (=rose) and daphne (=laurel).

The standard author abbreviation DC. is used to indicate Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778 – 1841), a Swiss botanist.

_{Location: Bene Zion Nature Reserve}