Bupleurum dumosum Coss. & Balansa
Fre.: Buplèvre.
Subshrub or shrub, evergreen, hermaphrodite, up to 1(1.5) m in height, very ramose, erect. Stems and old branches strongly woody, rigid, not flexible as in other species of the genus. This species is characteristic for the rigidity of its stems and branches and its greenish-ashen leaves. Bark brown-greyish on the older parts of the stems, and slightly fissured; reddish-brown on branches of several years but not too old; greyish with clear red longitudinal striations on young branches; greenish and glabrous with reddish striations on branchlets of the current year. Leaves alternate or in basal rosette (1-6 × 0.3-1 cm), narrowly obovate-oblong, frequently with acute tip recurved backwards, slightly attenuated at the base; cauline leaves sessile, slightly or not amplexicaul, leaves of the basal rosette with membranaceous amplexicaul «petiole», coriaceous, glabrous, greenish-ashen on both sides. Inflorescence umbelliform (umbel of umbellules), generally solitary, with 5-10 rays, at the end of each one another small umbel with 3-7 flowers is borne. Base of the main umbel and of the secondary umbels are surrounded by a whorl of persistent lanceolate bracts. Flower with elongated ovary, greenish-whitish, crowned by a yellow disc on which 5 small yellow petals are borne, inrolled forwards. Sepals absent. Stamens 5, alternating with the petals. Fruit a double oblong achene, about 3-5 mm long.
Flowering:
April to June.
Fruiting:
August to October.
Habitat:
Cleared forests of argan, thuya and junipers, on calcareous and siliceous soils. From arid to dry bioclimate, on inframediterranean and thermomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Endemic to Morocco: from the western High Atlas. To the N it reaches the western Anti-Atlas and the closest southern mountains to the S.
Conservation status:
Species not very common, even rare, with small distribution area. Currently, they have not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.