Taraxacum pseudoalpestre Štěpánek & Kirschner

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 : 132

4. Taraxacum pseudoalpestre Štěpánek & Kirschner in Štěpánek et al. (2011: 560)

Type:— Romania, the Southern Carpathians , NE part of the Fagaras Mts , slopes above Avrig Lake , towards Scura , Şerbola, Negoin, acid bedrock, ca. 2100 m, 15 Jul 2002, P. Kusák, cultivated as JK 4874 ( PRA, no. det. 25023, holotype; isotype: PRA, no. det. 25024, and duplicates) .

Illustration:— Štěpánek et al. (2011: Fig. 10).

Plants small to medium-sized, usually 10–18 cm tall. Plant base without tunic. Petiole pale greenish or partly bordered purplish, winged to broadly winged in outer leaves, unwinged to narrowly winged in inner ones. Leaves numerous, erect-patent, vivid light green, not spotted, subglabrous, with a few scattered hairs along mid-vein, oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate in outline, usually 7–11 × 2–3 cm, runcinate-pinnatisect; terminal segment ± dominant, triangular, helmet-shaped or ovate-triangular, subacute, with a ± sagittate base, 1.5–4 × 2–3 cm, distal margin ± straight to convex, subundulate, entire, rarely with an asymmetrical incision, basal lobules patent to recurved, acuminate, proximal margin ± straight to concave, usually entire, or with a single basal tooth; lateral segments in 3–4 (5) pairs, narrowly triangular, ± patent to recurved, or bird-wing-like, acuminate, distal margin convex to sigmoid, entire or with a few minute teeth in proximal segments, proximal margin concave to ± straight, usually entire; interlobes long, usually 5–12 × 2–7 mm, inconspicuously blotched brown-purplish, margin usually raised, with teeth and lobules of varied length; mid-vein pale greenish. Scapes sparsely arachnoid, later glabrescent, pale green during anthesis, later distally getting purplish, ± equalling leaves. Capitulum yellow, ca. 4 cm wide. Involucre not pruinose, broadly obconical and ca. 7 mm wide at base. Outer phyllaries 15–22, loosely appressed at base, distally loosely appressed, erect or subarcuate, reaching 1/3–1/2 of the inner, lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 6–7 × 2–3 mm, with an elongated, acuminate apical part, surface evenly blackish-green, distally often suffused purplish, paler border almost invisible, margin ± minutely ciliate, apex flat; inner phyllaries 13–14 mm long, light olivaceous, of ± equal width. Outer ligules narrow, subcanaliculate, striped light purplish-greyish, apical teeth black, inner ligules canaliculate, their apical teeth black. Stigmas very light, yellow or slightly greenish yellow, with usually hyaline pubescence outside. Pollen present, pollen grains variable in size. Achenes pale coloured, whitish stramineous-brown or pale stramineous with an ochraceous hue, 4.3–4.8 × 1.1–1.3 mm, body subdensely spinulose and squamulose only in the uppermost part, ± abruptly narrowing into a conical cone 0.5–0.6 mm long; beak 5–8 mm long, pappus white, 5–6 mm long. – Agamosperm.

Diagnostic notes and variation:— Taraxacum pseudoalpestre exhibits a distinct similarity with T. alpestre in its leaf shape. The numerous, loosely appressed, narrow outer phyllaries, pale achenes with a body spinulose and squamulose only in its uppermost part, and the conical, short cone are diagnostic. As regards the differences between the South Carpathian and the Bulgarian plants, there is a good match in all decisive characters, and minor differences, either due to plasticity or multiclonality, include slightly shorter and less patent outer phyllaries, pale achenes with light greyish hue in the Romanian plants and with very light ochraceous hue in the Bulgarian ones, and a shorter beak.

Distribution and habitat:— Taraxacum pseudoalpestre represents the only mountain Taraxacum species with the geographical range in the Southern Carpathians and Bulgaria. The distribution and ecology in Romania were described in Štěpánek et al. (2011). In Bulgaria, T. pseudoalpestre is known from the western part of the Stara Planina Mts. It grows in humid subalpine grasslands below 2000 m a.s.l., on granite bedrock. Its IUCN conservation status is estimated as NT.

Bulgarian specimens examined:— Stara Planina, Zlatiško-Tetevenska planina, Teteven , village of Ribarica , Mt. Vežen (2198 m), a ridge between Mt. Kamenica and the pass of Ribariški Prohod , ca. 1800–1950 m, ca. 42° 45’ N, ca. 24° 26–27’ E, 20 Jul 1998, J. Štěpánek, R. Bělohlávková, V. D. Vladimirov & D. Petkova, cultivated as JŠ 7584 ( PRA, no. det. 36155); Ibidem, JŠ 7586 ( PRA, no. det. 36153) .