Lamiaceae

S. staminea Montbret & Aucher ex Bentham in Ann. Sci. Nat. ser. 2, 6:41 (1836). Pobedimova in Not. Syst. (Leningrad) 21:320-324 (1961). Syn: S. staminea Montbret & Aucher ex Bentham var. persica Bornm. in Bull. Herb. Boiss. ser. 2, 8:110 (1908); S. staminea Montbret & Aucher ex Bentham subsp. armeniaca Bordz. in Acta Horti Jurjev. 13:22 (1912);S. Staminea Montbret & Aucher ex Bentham var. latifolia Bornm. in Monit. Jard. Bot. Tiflis 32:7 (1914); S. armeniaca (Bordz.) Grossh. in Beih. Bot. Centr. 44(2):237 (1927); S. transcaucasica Pobed. in Not. Syst. (Leningrad) 21:321 & fig. p. 323 (1961). Ic: Fl. URSS 21: t. 16 f. 3 (1956), as S. armeniaca.
Perennial herb. Stems erect, 30-50 cm, branched above, with a variable indumentum, from pilose to villous-glandular above. Leaves distributed over stem or rosette-forming, linear-oblong to ovate, 4-13 x 2.5-6 cm, shortly tomentose, subentire to erose; petiole 2-9 cm. Verticillasters 2-6(-8)-flowered, approximating above. Bracts broadly ovate, c. 4-12 x 5-8 mm. Pedicels c. 2 mm. Calyx tubular-campanulate, c. 6-7, mm to c. 10 mm in fruit, yellowish-green or with violet blue striations, densely glandular with or without long flattened eglandular hairs; upper lip tridentate, equal to or shorter than lower. Corolla white to pale yellow, 12-14 mm; tube ventricose, squamulate;upper lip ± straight, narrow. Stamens much exserted, connectives (5-)l2(-18) mm -type B. Nutlets ovoid, c. 2 x 1.8 mm. Fl. 5-8. Limestone and igneous rocky slopes, in Quercus scrub, cliffs, screes, alpine meadows, 1700-3150 m.
Type: [Turkey B7] Cappadocia orientali, Aucher [1526] (holo. G!).
E. Anatolia. A7 Gümüşane: Tempede (Tenbeda), Sint. 1894:7012! A8 Erzurum: 50 km N.E. of Erzurum, Erzurum to Tortum, 1900 m, Hub.-Mor. 15316! Gümüşane: N. side of Kop Da., pass, Tuzlaci (ISTE 41167)! A9 Kars: c. 20 km from Akçay to Cumaçay, 2200 m, D. 46715! Çoruh: Şavşat, Ziyaret Da., Yüksel (ISTE 35344)! B7 Tunceli: Pülümür to Mutu, 1780 m, Hub.-Mor. 15317! Erzincan: Erzincan to Refahiye, 2100 m, Simon 75-304. B8 Erzurum: Pasinler to Horasan, 1700 m, D. 29443! Muş: Bingöl Da., 1830 m, Kotschy 366! Sürt: Meleto (Meretuğ) Da., c. 2800 m, Hand.-Mazz. 2786! B9 Van: d. Gürpinar, Hoşap to Başkale, 2850 m, Hub.-Mor. 10747! Bitlis: Nemrut Da., c. 1900 m, Tatli 540. Ağri: S. end of Balik G., 2300 m, D. 47181! B10 Van: Güzel De. pass, 2800 m, D. 45946! C10 Hakkari: Cilo Da., 3150 m, D. 24140!
Soviet Armenia, Georgia, N. & N.W. Iran. Ir.-Tur. element. Many apparently distinctive variants occur within S. staminea throughout its total range but I have not been able to give them formal recognition. There is much poly-morphism in leaf shape, bract size, calyx shape and indumentum, and in cor- olla colour. With the substantial amount of material now available the variation appears to be at the local population level (i.e. form).
The clear ally of S. staminea is the Sarmatian steppe species S. austriaca Jacq.; some of the forms of our species are close to, but distinct from, the oligo-morphic E. European plant.