Hare's-ear

Bupleurum stellatum, the starry hare's-ear, is a perennial herb in the carrot family (Apiaceae), endemic to the alpine and subalpine zones of the southwestern Alps and adjacent ranges in France, Italy, Switzerland, and Corsica, where it grows on acidic siliceous rocks, scree, and stony pasture between about 1500 and 3000 meters. Plants form low tufts arising from a stout woody rootstock; the stems are slender, erect, glabrous, often somewhat purplish, 10-40 cm tall, and usually unbranched below the inflorescence. The basal leaves are long, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 10-25 cm long and 3-10 mm wide, with parallel venation typical of the genus and a slightly clasping base. Stem leaves are few and reduced. The inflorescence is a single compound umbel with 5-10 unequal rays subtended by a striking involucre of 5-8 large ovate-acuminate yellowish to greenish bracts, fused at the base into a saucer-like disc; this conspicuous "starry" involucre below the small flowers gives the species its epithet. The flowers themselves are tiny and yellow, in small umbellets surrounded by bractlets. Fruits are oblong ridged schizocarps about 3-4 mm long.