Rosmarinus eriocalyx Jord. & Fourr.
Rosmarinus tournefortii (de Noé ex Jord. & Fourr.) Jahand. & Maire, R. officinalis var. tournefortii Murb.
Eng.: Hairy rosemary. Spa.: Romero peloso. Fre.: Romarin pubescent. Ara.: hassalhan. Tam.: lazir.
Subshrub, evergreen, hermaphrodite, very aromatic, up to 1.5(2) m in height, upright, rarely prostrate, highly branched, with some arched and radicant branches (allowing vegetative propagation of the species). Stems and older branches with brown-greyish bark, fissured longitudinally. Branches reddish and glabrous. Young branchlets subtetragonal, covered with very short whitish hairs. Leaves (7-20 × 1.3-1 mm) very abundant, linear, with entire margin, very revolute, obtuse, shortly petiolate, opposite, coriaceous, glabrous, deep and bright green on the upper side and densely covered with whitish small hairs on the underside. Inflorescence very hairy, with glandular hairs, in short axillary or terminal racemes, with small ovate and caducous bracts. Flower 9-14 mm. Calyx campanulate, with numerous glandular hairs, bilabiate, with the upper lip entire or subentire, the lower lip deeply divided into 2 triangular teeth; with some hairs that are usually promptly caducous, then becoming glabrous, pruinose; green with reddish hues. Corolla bluish, with 2 very different lips: the upper lip subentire or with 2 elongated lobules and the lower lip with 3 lobules, with a much larger central lobule. Stamens 2, very exserted. Fruits are small nutlets 2.5-2.9 mm, brownish, included in the persistent calyx. 2n = 24.
Flowering:
Almost throughout the year, especially in winter and spring.
Fruiting:
About 2 months after flowering.
Habitat:
Scarcer than R. officinalis but with a similar ecology. Clearings in forest and thickets, preferably on calcareous, marly, clay or chalky soils; from near sea level to about 600 m.
Distribution:
SE Spain (Almeria), Rif, Cape Three Forks, Beni-Snassen and other hills of northern Morocco, central-western Tellian Atlas and some parts of central Tunisia (Matmata, Sakket and Tamezret).
Observations:
In the western Tellian Atlas (Beni Snassen Mts., in Morocco) there are specimens with pale lilac to yellow flowers; these are var. pallescens (Maire) Upson & Jury [R. pallescens (Maire) Senen].
Conservation status:
Common species but with a small distribution area. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.