Matthiola crassifolia, the thick-leaved stock, is a species of plant in the family Brassicaceae.
Description Perennial, tomentose. Roots very thick. Flowering stems 20–80 cm. Radical leaves pinnatifid, sinuate or entire, reaching 16 cm long. Cauline leaves entire or folded on margins. Sepals white. 1 cm long. Petals 20 mm, purple pink. Siliques 10 cm long over 4 mm wide, not tapered at apex. Stigma with two lateral projections at base. It is an endangered species.
Flowering February–May.
Habitat Littoral rocks.
Distribution Littoral-coast.
Geographic area The thick-leaved stock, which adorns the rocks of Ras-Beirut in particular as of February, is endemic to Lebanon. Its generic name was coined to render homage to P.A. Matthioli, the Italian physician and famous botanist of the sixteenth century.Mustapha Nehmeh, Wild Flowers Of Lebanon, National Council For Scientific Research,1978, page 174.
References
Georges Tohme& Henriette Tohme, IIIustrated Flora of Lebanon, National Council For Scientific Research, Second Edition 2014.