Bituminaria kyreniae Giusso, C. Brullo, Brullo, Cambria & Miniss., 2015
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.11646/phytotaxa.220.3.6 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/4E7087DF-FFC5-FFC7-88A0-FC5DFBE69AF3 |
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treatment provided by |
Felipe |
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scientific name |
Bituminaria kyreniae Giusso, C. Brullo, Brullo, Cambria & Miniss. |
| status |
sp. nov. |
Bituminaria kyreniae Giusso, C. Brullo, Brullo, Cambria & Miniss. View in CoL sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 View FIGURE 1 , 2 View FIGURE 2 )
Syn.: Aspalthium bituminosum sensu Meikle, Fl. Cyprus 1: 489, 1977, non Fourreau, Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon. ser.2, 16: 365, 1868.
Species Bituminaria bituminosa similis sed statura minore, foliolis ovatis vel lanceolatis, plerumque minoribus, supra glabris vel glabrescentibus, racemo 5-10-floribus, calice omnino pilis albis tecto, aliquando sparsis pilis nigris, corolla usque ad 24 mm longa, vexillo oblanceolato- spathulato, rotundato, rostro leguminis glabro, ciliato non nisi margine et seminibus minoribus, brunneoolivaceis, sculpturis testae diversis differt.
Type:— CYPRUS. Northern Cyprus: Kyrenia Range, 7, calcareous rocky cliffs, southern slopes near Buffavento Castle , about 700 m a.s.l., 6 July 2013, S. Brullo & G. Giusso del Galdo s.n. (holotype, CAT!; isotypes, CAT!, FI!) .
Herb perennial, woody and branched at the base, green, appressed-hirsute, 30–50 cm tall, smelling of pitch. Stems numerous, erect or ascending, rigid, striate. Leaves long petiolate, digitately 3-foliate; stipules lanceolate-ensiform, 4–10 mm long, adnate to the petiole; petiole (3) 4–12 cm long; leaflets ovate to lanceolate, (12)20–40(60) x (4) 8–20 mm, sparsely hairy in the abaxial face and glabrous or subglabrous in the adaxial one and densely hairy at the margin, hairs white, very short and appressed; the central leaflet longer and petiolate, the lateral ones subsessile and usually shorter. Raceme sub-capitate, 2–2.8 cm long, 5–10-flowered, covered by white and black hairs in the bracts and upper part of peduncle; peduncles 5–18(20) cm long, longer than leaf. Bracts 5–12 mm long, 1–3-toothed. Calyx 12–16 mm long, 10-nerved with unequal triangular-subulate teeth, covered exclusively or almost by white hairs, sometimes with rare short black hairs, tube 5–8 mm long; lower tooth 7–10(11) mm long; lateral teeth 5.5–9 mm long. Corolla blue-violet to violet, longer than calyx; standard oblanceolate-spathulate, usually rounded at apex, rarely slightly retuse, 16–22(24) x 6–8.5 mm, whitish-green at the base; wings 14–19 mm long, with limb 2.8–4 mm wide; keel 11.5–16 mm long, with limb 2–2.6 mm wide, having a macula dark violet above. Staminal tube 10–15 mm long; anthers 0.5–0.6 mm long. Pistil 9–13 mm long, hairy in the ovary. Pod indehiscent, included in the calyx, 16–22 mm long (beak included), densely covered in the corpus by setaceous hairs, 1–3 mm long, mixed to some rigid black or colourless prickles; beak flat, falcate, 11–17 mm long, glabrous and ciliate at the margin. Seed adherent to pericarp, laterally compressed, subreniform, 4.5–5.5 x 2.4–2.6 mm, olive-brown.
Etymology:— The specific epithet refers to “ Kyrenia ”, mountain range of North Cyprus.
Seed and pod micro-morphology:— The micro-sculptures of seed testa, examined by using a scanning electron microscope, provide important additional information useful for the proper taxonomic treatment of a given species, as highlighted by Barthlott (1981), Koul et al. (2000) and Celep et al. (2012). Many studies on the seed coat micro-morphology of the legume taxa carried out by several authors (e.g. Murthy & Sanjappa 2002, Kirkbride et al. 2003, Salimpour et al. 2007, Bacchetta & Brullo 2010, Fawzel 2011, Gandhi et al. 2011, Brullo et al. 2011, 2013) stressed the role played by these characters for resolving problems regarding the systematics of such critical groups. Actually, seed ornamentation is usually considered as a conservative and stable character having relevant taxonomical and phylogenetic implications. As concerns the seed coat of B. kyreniae , it shows a fine and inconspicuous reticulum bordering the cells, which appear irregularly polygonal (pentagonal or hexagonal), 9–13 μm wide. The anticlinal walls are slightly grooved, smooth, while the periclinal ones are flat with epidermis finely rugose ( Fig.3 View FIGURE 3 , A 1–2 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 ). The comparison with the seed testa of the allied B. bituminosa , already investigated by Minissale et al. (2013), clearly highlights the remarkable diversity of their micro-sculptures. In fact, the coat of B. bituminosa seeds are characterized by smaller cells, more or less triangular (5–9 μm wide), bounded by a thin and curved furrow, usually lacerated. The anticlinal walls are incised-depressed, while the periclinal walls are weakly convex, with epidermis uniformly furrowed by curved and concentric grooves ( Fig. 3 View FIGURE 3 , B 1–2 View FIGURE 1 View FIGURE 2 ).
Other meaningful differences may be observed in the pod indumentum of these two species. In particular, B. kyreniae has hair surface finely rugose and longitudinal furrow broadly widened at the hair foot ( Fig.3 View FIGURE 3 , A 4 View FIGURE 4 ), while in B. bituminosa the hair surface is minutely papillose and the longitudinal furrow is homogeneously narrow ( Fig.3 View FIGURE 3 , B 4 View FIGURE 4 ).
Distribution and ecology:— Bituminaria kyreniae is a true chasmophyte occurring in the crevices of Palaeozoic carbonatic cliffs. It mainly occurs along the south-facing steep slopes of the Kyrenia Range ( Northern Cyprus), at an elevation of 500–900 m a.s.l. Such rupestrian stands are typically dwelled by scattered individuals. According to our observations and literature ( Meikle 1977), B. kyreniae occurs in several sites of the above-mentioned mountain range, such as Buffavento Castle, St. Hilarion Castle, Halevga, Kornos and Yaïla ( Fig.4 View FIGURE 4 ). From the ecological point of view, B. kyreniae is a member a rupestrian plant community characterized by the occurrence of many endemics, exclusively found in this mountain of Cyprus, e.g. Galium canum Requien ex De Candolle (1830: 602) subsp. hilarionis H. Lindberg (1946: 32) , Micromeria cypria Kotschy in Unger & Kotschy (1865: 270), Dianthus cyprius Jackson & Turrill (1938: 462) , Pimpinella cypria Boissier (1888: 253) , Sideritis cypria Post (1900: 98) , Teucrium cyprium Boissier. (1844: 43) subsp. kyreniae P.H. Davis (1949: 111) , Rosularia cypria ( Holmboe 1914: 94) Meikle (1977: 644) , Brassica hilarionis Post (1900: 90) , Arabis cypria Holmboe (1914: 85) and Ptilostemon chamaepeuce ( Linnaeus 1753: 819) Lessing (1832: 5) var. cyprius Greuter (1973: 113) .
Conservation status:— Due to the rarity of this new species, with an extremely restricted growing area and a very few-numbered population, it should be included within the threatened species list of Cyprus. In addition, it should be considered that the only known population found refuge on rather inaccessible vertical rocky stands, where just fires could occasionally represent a true threat. Therefore, following the criteria laid out by IUCN (2014), B. kyreniae should be classified as “Endagered” (EN, D), similarly to other narrow endemic chasmophytes occurring in the same area and examined by Tsintides et al. (2007) in the Red Data Book of the Flora of Cyprus.
| S |
Department of Botany, Swedish Museum of Natural History |
| G |
Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève |
| CAT |
Università di Catania |
| FI |
Natural History Museum |
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