Astragalus mayeri Micevski, 1970

Shuka, Lulezim & Tan, Kit, 2013, New records for Albania based on taxa from the Prespa National Park, Biodiversity Data Journal 1, pp. 1014-1014 : 1014

Astragalus mayeri Micevski, 1970

Fabaceae

Astragalus mayeri Micevski in Fragmenta Botanica Musei Macedonici Scientarum Naturalium 7(17):164 (1970). Fig. 10

Astragalus mayeri Type:― [F.Y.R. MACEDONIA] Galičica Planina, in rupestribus alpinis, 1200-2000 m, solo calcareo, 16 July1968, Micevski (holotype SKO!).

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Dieterich & Shuka; Location: country: Albania; verbatimLocality: Dry Mt, peak of Buza e Koritës; verbatimElevation: 1965 m; verbatimLatitude: 40°47'N; verbatimLongitude: 20°50'E; Event: eventDate: 11 July 2011; Record Level: basisOfRecord: observation Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Dieterich & Shuka; Location: country: Albania; verbatimLocality: peak of Shëngjergji; verbatimElevation: 1765-2000 m; verbatimLatitude: 40°44'N; verbatimLongitude: 20°52'E; Event: eventDate: 11 July 2011; Record Level: basisOfRecord: observation Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Dieterich & Shuka; Location: country: Albania; verbatimLocality: Ivani Mt; verbatimElevation: 1546 m; verbatimLatitude: 40°43'N; verbatimLongitude: 20°53'E; Event: eventDate: 6 July 2011; Record Level: basisOfRecord: observation Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordedBy: Dieterich & Shuka; Location: country: Albania; verbatimLocality: Dry Mt; verbatimElevation: 1893 m; verbatimLatitude: 40°45'N; verbatimLongitude: 20°51'E; Event: eventDate: 11 July 2011; Record Level: basisOfRecord: observation Type status: Other material. Occurrence: recordNumber: 5574; recordedBy: Shuka; Location: country: Albania; verbatimLocality: peak of Zvezda; verbatimElevation: 1704 m; verbatimLatitude: 40°45'N; verbatimLongitude: 20°51'E; Event: eventDate: 11 July 2011; Record Level: institutionCode: TIR!

Ecology

Phenology

Flowering late June to mid-July, fruiting July to August.

Habitat

In Sempervivum - Jovibarba communities on dry, stony slopes and rocky pastures of Ivani Mt and the southern part of Dry Mt, from 1546 to 2100 m. On Ivani Mt, Astragalus mayeri occurs in clearings of Acer heldreichii and Prunus prostrata . On the upper slopes of Dry Mt, it occurs in rocky places and pastures together with Astragalus angustifolius , Dianthus cruentus , Dianthus deltoides subsp. degenii, Dianthus haematocalyx subsp. pindicola, Helichrysum plicatum , Iris attica , Juniperus communis subsp. alpina and Stachys germanica . Erodium guicciardii , Sempervivum ciliosum and Sideritis raeseri occur on both sides of the Zvezda Pass which links the southern end of Dry Mt with Ivani Mt.

Distribution

Also in NC and EC Greece. Undoubtedly very close to Astragalus sericophyllus ( Grisebach 1843:52) and plants of the latter from Mt Iti in Sterea Ellas, central Greece have been reported as Astragalus mayeri ( Karetsos 2002:100). The legumes of Astragalus mayeri are striped like a zebra as the black and white hairs are confined to patches or in separate rows instead of intermixed.

Taxon discussion

The plants of Astragalus mayeri on Ivani Mt are more robust and larger than those from Galičica or Dry Mt especially from the latter where overgrazing is rampant and the herbaceous cover sparse. ― New for Albania.