Taraxacum auricula Štěpánek & Kirschner, 2022

Štěpánek, Jan & Kirschner, Jan, 2022, A hotspot of endemism: Oreophytic Taraxacum species (Compositae, Crepidinae) in the mountains of Bulgaria, Phytotaxa 569 (1), pp. 1-139 : 57-58

. Taraxacum auricula Štěpánek & Kirschner , sp. nov.

Type:— Bulgaria, montes Pirin , Banderica, in decl. montis Vichren, 9 Aug 1997, J. Kirschner, cultivated as JK 4672 ( PRA, no. det. 36101, holotype; isotype: PRA, no. det. 36084, and duplicates) .

Etymology:—Auricle, earlobe (diminutive of Latin auris, ear, hearing).

Diagnosis:—Plantae foliis terrae adpressis, phyllariis exterioribus brevibus, arcte adpressis, stigmatibus luteis vel saturate luteis, acheniis brunneis vel subsaturate brunneo-cinerascentibus, corpore superne subdense breviter spinuloso-squamulosis, in pyramidem anguste cylindricam, 1.0– 1.1 mm longam abrupte transeunte.

Plants small, compact, 4–7 cm tall. Plant base without tunic, with brownish hairs among petiole bases. Petiole, not clearly discernible from the blade, broadly winged, pale greenish, ca. 1–1.5 cm long. Leaf rosettes with many leaves, compact, tightly appressed to the ground, leaves light (± greyish) green, glabrous, not spotted, oblong-spatulate to oblong in outline, usually 3–7 × 0.8–2 cm, pinnatilobed to pinnatifid, sometimes undivided, remotely dentate with broad, obtuse teeth; terminal segment usually not clearly developed, if so, then ± broadly helmet-shaped or oblongpentagonal, obtusely acute to obtuse; lateral segments, mostly lobes or teeth, in 1–2 (3) pairs, patent to subrecurved, sometimes hamate-recurved, acute to obtusely acute, to 2–4 mm long, 5–10 mm wide at base; interlobes indistinctly developed, very broad, equally green, not bordered; mid-vein ± pinkish. Scapes 2.5–5.5 cm long, glabrous, pale green, ± equalling the leaf length. Capitulum deep yellow, 2–2.5 cm wide. Involucre, ± not pruinose, rounded and ca. 0.9 mm wide at base. Outer phyllaries 14–16, appressed, relatively short, reaching 1/3–1/5 of the inner, subimbricate, ovate to lanceolate, 4–5.5 × 2.5–3 mm, acuminate, ± evenly dark olivaceous-green, with an abrupt transition in a narrow paler border ca. 0.05–0.1 mm wide, margin ± sparsely irregularly ciliate, apex flat; inner phyllaries 15–18, paler olivaceousgreen than the outer ones, 10–12 mm long, of ± equal width. Outer ligules relatively narrow, flat, striped dark greygreen outside, apical teeth grey-black, inner ligules canaliculate to cucullate-subtubular, apical teeth black. Stigmas long, yellow to deep yellow, with hyaline pubescence outside. Pollen abundant, pollen grains irregular in size. Achenes medium deep greyish brown to ± light pure brown, usually 4.4–5.0 × 1.0– 1.2 mm, body relatively densely, shortly spinulose and squamulose in upper 1/4–1/5, abruptly narrowing into a thin cylindrical cone 1.0–1.1 × 0.3 mm, with a single minute spinule near the base; beak 5–6 mm, pappus ± white, 6–7 mm long. – Agamosperm. – Fig. 27B, 28.

Diagnostic notes:—The medium brown or greyish brown achene colour, yellow stigmas and usually pinnatilobed or undivided leaves represent the diganostic combination of characters of T. auricula . It might be compared with smaller individuals of T. bulgaricum but the achene colour and a thin, cylindrical cone 1.0– 1.1 mm long clearly distinguish T. auricula .

Distribution and habitat:—This distinctive species is known from a rather limited material (the type gathering) from a single macrolocality in the Vichren Massif, Pirin. It grows in alpine grasslands with a lower vegetation coverage, above 2300 m. It might be overlooked, but probably represents an endemic species confined to Pirin, Bulgaria. The IUCN conservation status is estimated as VU.