Centaurea soskae subsp. albida Kit Tan, Shuka & Wagenitz, 2018

Wagenitz, Gerhard, Bergmeier, Erwin, Gregor, Thomas, Meierott, Lenz, Shuka, Lulezim & Tan, Kit, 2018, A synopsis of the Centaurea soskae and triniifolia group (Centaurea sect. Acrolophus) in the Prespa area and Northern Pindos, Phytotaxa 348 (2), pp. 77-89 : 78-82

1. Centaurea soskae Hayek

This attractive species has yellow to yellowish-white florets and conspicuously white tomentose leaves with segments more than 2 mm broad, especially those of the basal leaves. The pappus equals to or is slightly longer than the body of the achene. It was first described from Lake Ohrid by Hayek in a floristic paper by Košanin (1926) and later included in Prodromus Florae Peninsulae Balcanicae ( Hayek 1931) and also Flora Europaea ( Dostál 1976). The name was neglected for a long time as later authors never saw the type or additional material and even the original publication is somewhat difficult to obtain. There are several specimens of C. soskae from the locus classicus deposited in the Natural History Museum, Belgrade (BEO), however, the type of C. soskae is not there nor at the University of Belgrade (BEOU), neither at Göteborg University (GB) as would be expected. It was originally considered by GW to represent a form of C. pelia DC. , a species occurring in central and eastern Greece.

In 2013 Shuka and Kit Tan examined plants in Albania which they identified as C. soskae . These Albanian plants were previously described by Meyer (2011) as representing a new species, C. decora F.K. Meyer. Meyer , however, had erroneously ascribed them to C. sect. Acrocentron . In addition, similar plants from the Greek Prespa area had been collected much earlier by Elli Stamatiadou from the Goulandris Natural History Museum. They were described by Rechinger (1975) as C. prespana Rech. f. The type of C. prespana (ATH, G and W) has been studied by us, it can also be seen online in the Virtual Herbaria JACQ and in JSTOR. Likewise, the type of C. decora has been examined from Jena. In Berlin (B) there is a fragment of the type specimen of C. soskae . Material of C. tomorosii and C. galicicae from the FYR Macedonian part of Mt Galičica had never been seen by GW who had to rely on the descriptions and figures published by Micevski (1985). We are now able to study the material of C. tomorosii with the help of Balkan colleagues ( Janaćković & al. 2017).

In 2009 and 2013 plants belonging to C. soskae were found by TG & LM on south and southwest-facing calcareous rocks near the village of Aetia, north of Grevena in the Greek N Pindos. The basal and lower leaves have much broader segments than in typical C. soskae , and GW proposed their treatment at subspecies rank. Material collected by KT and LS from Mikri Prespa and at the Gollomboçi Peninsula at Lake Makro Prespa included a third subspecies of C. soskae . This subspecies is very densely white floccose-tomentose throughout and the indumentum remains snow-white even with age. The three subspecies of C. soskae are now enumerated.

a) Centaurea soskae Hayek in Košanin (1926: 27).

Herbaceous perennial, woody at base, single or occurring in large tufts. Basal leaves dissected, bi-pinnatipartite or entire; leaf lateral segments more than 2 mm wide, the terminal ones often broader. Indumentum on leaves greyish-white to white. Florets yellow. Phyllary appendages pale brown, with 5‒8 whitish lateral cilia on each side; terminal spinule longer than lateral cilia. Achenes puberulent; pappus equalling or slightly longer than body of achene.

subsp. soskae ( Figs. 1‒2 & 9 ).

Type:—[FYR MACEDONIA.] Macedonia occidentalis: pagum Trpezica [ Trpejca ] ad lacum Ochrida, solo calcarea, Th. Soška (holotype n.v.; fragment at B!) .

= Centaurea prespana Rechinger (1975: 55) .

Type:— GREECE. Macedonia occidentalis: distr. Phlorina, ad occidentem pagi Vrondero ad occidentem lacus Prespa ad fines Albaniae , in saxosis calc., 23 June 1972, Stamatiadou s.n. (holotype W!; isotypes ATH!, G!). http://jacq.nhm-wien.ac.at/djatoka/jacq-viewer/ viewer.html?rft_id=w_19810011154&identifiers=w_19810011154

= Centaurea decora Meyer (2011: 167‒168 , fig. 30).

Type :— ALBANIA. Pogradec , Shengjergj, Südabfall des Mali-i-Thatë, 800‒1000 m, 5 July 1959, F. K. Meyer 3486 (holotype JE; isotype JE!). http://131.130.131.10/herbaria/jacq-viewer/viewer.html?rft_id=je_00016718&identifiers=je_00016718

Herbaceous perennial, woody at base, not tufted. Basal leaves finely dissected, bi-pinnatipartite. Indumentum greyish-white in young leaves, becoming greyish later. Pappus c. equalling or slightly longer than body of achene.

Endemic to Mali i Thatë (Dry Mountain, Albania) and Lake Prespa area of Albania, FYR Macedonia and NW Greece. Flowering June to mid-July; fruiting July to August.

Specimens cited

ALBANIA. Korça district: calcareous rocky western slopes of Dry Mt, above Shengjergji village , 1200 m, 40°46’N, 20°49’E, 9 July 1959, Palikuqi s.n. ( TIR!) ; loc. ibid., 13 July 2011, Shuka s.n. ( TIR!) ; calcareous rocky cliffs of the Gollomboçi Peninsula at Lake Megali Prespa , 7–15 m above the lake shore, 855 m, 40°51’N, 20°57’E, 13 July 2011, Shuka s.n. ( TIR!) ; cliffs at Lake Mikri Prespa , 900‒1000 m, 40°41’N, 20°59’E, 24 June 2017, Shuka s.n. ( C!, TIR!) .

GREECE. Nomos & Eparchia Florinis: Vroatseria, W of the village Vrondero, between the 12 th and 13 th pyramid of the Greek-Albanian frontier, stony calcareous ground, 1300‒1400 m, 40°45’N, 20°59’E, 23 June 1972, Stamatiadou 15927 ( ATH!, W!, private herbarium Strid!) ; loc. ibid., Stamatiadou 15886 ( ATH!, private herbarium Kit!) ; Prespa National Park , near Vrontero, 1300‒1400 m, 40°45’N, 21°00’E, Pavlides (1985:181) .

FYR MACEDONIA. Trpezica am Ohrid-See , 16 July 1937, O. & E. Behr ( B!, W!) ; Trepezica am Ostufer vom Ohridasee, locus classicus et unicus, 16 July 1937, A. Cohrs ( B!) ; Macedonia australis, distr. Ohrid, locis collinis in confines Albaniae ad monasterio Sveti Naum, 1 July 1968, F. Weber ( W!) ; Trpezica ad lacu Ohrid, 5 July 1939, Černjavski BEO 26470 & 26471( BEO) ; Ohrid, Sv. Naum, 3 May 1940, Černjavski BEO 26469 ( BEO) .

b) Centaurea soskae subsp. albida Kit Tan, Shuka & Wagenitz , subsp. nov. ( Figs. 1‒3 & 9 ).

Type:— ALBANIA. Korça district: calcareous rocky cliffs on the left side of entrance to Lake Mikri Prespa , 50‒80 m above the lake shore, 900‒940 m, 40°40’N, 20°59’E, 13 June 2016, Kit Tan, G. Vold & Shuka 32106 (holotype C!; isotypes ATH!, GOET!, LD!, TIR!) .

Herbaceous perennial, tufted and woody at base, stiffly erect, densely white floccose-tomentose. Basal leaves dissected; leaf lateral segments undivided and regularly spaced even in the upper stem leaves. Indumentum remaining snow-white with age. Pappus c. equalling body of achene.

Endemic to Albania. Flowering June to early July; fruiting July to August.

The flora on the north, northeast and east-facing calcareous rocky cliffs at Lake Mikri Prespa and the Gollomboçi Peninsula is influenced by the lake’s humidity. In the close vicinity of C. soskae subsp. albida are Allium flavum subsp. flavum , Alyssoides sinuata , Asparagus acutifolius , Aurinia corymbosa , Bupleurum sp. , Cephalaria ambrosioides , Campanula versicolor , Centaurea graeca subsp. ceccariniana , Cerinthe retorta , Colutea arborescens , Pseudofumaria alba subsp. leiosperma , Ephedra foeminea , Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii , Iris germanica, Lilium chalcedonicum, Micromeria juliana , Nepeta spruneri , Satureja montana , Sedum acre , Silene saxifraga , Teucrium chamedrys , Umbilicus luteus and Xeranthemum inapertum .

Specimens cited

ALBANIA. Korça district: calcareous rocky cliffs of the Gollomboçi Peninsula at Lake Megali Prespa, 7–15 m above the lake shore, 845‒860 m, 40°51’N, 20°57’E, 13 July 2011, Shuka 5524 ( TIR!, private herbarium Kit!).

c) Centaurea soskae subsp. aetiensis T. Gregor, Meierott & Wagenitz , subsp. nov. ( Figs. 1‒2 , 4‒5 & 9 ). Type:— GREECE. Nomos & Eparchia Grevenon: 1.5 km se Aetia, Kalkfelsen, 1012 m, 40.07519°N, 21.19655°E, 3 July 2013, Gregor

10547 & Meierott (holotype FR!).

Herbaceous perennial woody at base. Leaves densely greyish-white tomentose. Basal leaves entire; lower stem leaves distinctly lyrate to pinnatisect with segments 2–7 mm broad; upper stem leaves narrowly lanceolate and entire. Pappus c. equalling body of achene.

Endemic to N Pindos, Greece. Flowering and fruiting in July.

At Aetia, C. soskae subsp. aetiensis grows in crevices of south and southwest-facing calcareous rocks together with Allium sphaerocephalum , Anthemis arvensis , Arabis turrita , Aurinia corymbosa , Bromus sterilis , Bubon macedonicum , Convolvulus cantabrica , C. lineatus , Crupina crupinastrum , Dasypyrum villosum , Euphorbia deflexa , E. peplus , Festuca spp. , Hypericum olympicum , Iberis sempervirens , Inula verbascifolia , Jurinea mollis , Micromeria juliana , Pimpinella tragium , Pterocephalus perennis subsp. bellidifolius , Scutellaria rupestris subsp. adenotricha , Sedum cepaea , Sideritis montana , Silene radicosa , Silene cf. parnassica , Torilis leptophylla and Trifolium scabrum .

Specimens cited

GREECE. Nomos & Eparchia Grevenon: 1.5 km se Aetia, Felsschlucht se Samarina, Kalkfelsen, 1017 m, 40°04’N, 21°12’E, 26 July 2009, Meierott GR-2009/52 & Gregor ( M!) ; loc. ibid., 3 July 2013, Meierott 2013/491, 492, 497, 499 & Gregor (all in M! 492 also in GOET!) ; loc. ibid., Gregor 10552, 10553 & Meierott (both in FR!) ; 2.0 km se Aetia, um Aussichtspunkt an Wasserfall, Kalkfelsen, 937 m, 40.07617°N, 21.20517°E, 3 July 2013, Gregor 10555 & Meierott ( FR!) ; 2.0 km se Aetia, an Strasse, Kalkfelsen, 917 m, 40.07814°N, 21.20645°E, 3 July 2013, Gregor 10560 & Meierott ( FR!) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Capitula of Centaurea taxa: a, C. soskae subsp. soskae; b, C. s. subsp. aetiensis; c, C. s. subsp. albida; d, C. tomorosii; e, C. galicicae; f, C. soskae subsp. albida × C. triniifolia subsp. campylacme; g, C. triniifolia subsp. campylacme; h, C. t. subsp. campylacme (white form); i, C. shumkana.

FIGURE 2. Achenes of Centaurea taxa: a, C. soskae subsp. soskae; b, C. s. subsp. aetiensis; c, C. s. subsp. albida; d, C. tomorosii; e, C. galicicae; f, C. soskae subsp. albida × C. triniifolia subsp. campylacme; g, C. triniifolia subsp. campylacme; h, C. grisebachii; i, C. shumkana.

FIGURE 4. Centaurea soskae subsp. aetiensis: a, plant in natural habitat showing basal leaves; b, herbarium specimen (Meierott GR- 2009/52 & Gregor, paratype at M).

FIGURE 5. Centaurea soskae subsp. aetiensis (Meierott GR-2013/492 & Gregor, paratype at GOET).

FIGURE 9. Distribution map: a, Centaurea soskae ● C. tomorosii ■; b, C. galicicae ● C. triniifolia subsp. campylacme ■ C. shumkana ♦.