Limonium kardamylii Artelari & Kamari (1995: 131)

Brullo, Salvatore & Erben, Matthias, 2016, The genus Limonium (Plumbaginaceae) in Greece, Phytotaxa 240 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

37. Limonium kardamylii Artelari & Kamari (1995: 131) ( Fig. 37 )

Type:― GREECE. Peloponnese: Peloponnisos, Nomos Messinias, Ep. Kalamon: ad pagum Kardamyli , in conglomeratis littoreis, 36° 53´N, 22° 13´E, 23 September 1990, Phitos & Kamari 20789 (holotype UPA, isotype Herb. Erben!) .

Description: —Plant perennial, glabrous, forming a sub-shrub 15–40 cm tall, with ascending to erect stems and a robust tap-root. Caudices robust, 1.5–8 cm long, branched, living leaves in rosettes at apices. Leaves fleshy, 10–35 mm long and 2–7 mm broad, narrowly spathulate to oblanceolate, apex obtuse to rotund, straight, margin revolute, with one central nerve, gradually tapering into the petiole; the majority withered at anthesis. Stems more or less slender, usually unbranched, rugose, fragile, 10–30 cm long, slightly articulate, slightly flexuous, branching normally begins above the lower third of the stems. Inflorescence corymbose. Sterile branches absent or 1–4 per stem, 0.5–3 cm long, straight to slightly arched, mostly unbranched. Fertile branches slender, fragile, 1–10 cm long, slightly articulate, arched to straight, forming branching angles of 20°–60°, undivided or poorly branched. Spikes fragile, 10–90 mm long, straight to arched, erect to inserted obliquely upwards. Spikelets 5.5–5.8 mm long, composed of 1–2 (–3) flowers, mostly densely arranged with (2–)4–6 per cm, often laterally slightly curved near the base. Outer bract 1.2–1.8 mm long and 1.4–1.8 mm broad, triangular-ovate, acute; bract margin narrowly membranous; central part fleshy, sometimes only at the base, acuminate. Middle bract membranous, 1.6–1.8 mm long and 1.2–1.5 mm broad, obovate-elliptic, rounded. Inner bract 3.6–4.2 mm long and 2.0– 2.6 mm broad, elliptic to obovate-elliptic obtuse; bract margin broadly membranous; central part fleshy, 2.7–3.5 mm long and 1.2–1.8 mm broad, elliptic to oblong-obovate, acuminate, forming a narrowly triangular tip, 0.5–0.8 mm long, not reaching the upper margin. Calyx 4.5–5.0 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by 1.5–2.0 mm; calyx tube more or less sparsely shortly hairy, with 5 ribs ending above the base of lobes; calyx lobes ca. 0.8 × 0.8 mm, semi-elliptic. Corolla violet.

Chromosome number: —2n = 18 ( Artelari & Kamari 1995; Erben Li–200, unpubl.).

Distribution: —Confined to the southern Peloponnese, between Kardamili and Aghios Nikolaos ( Fig. 90C ).

Habitat: —Calcareous and conglomerate rocks, rocky coast.

Taxonomic remarks: —The long, erect and flexuous stems of L. kardamylii are similar to those of L. saracinatum , but the former differs from the latter by having unbranched stems, more densely arranged and shorter spikelets and smaller inner bracts.

Specimens examined: — GREECE. Peloponnese: Messenias, Felsküste bei “Kalogria” südlich Kardamili, 11 September 1973, Grau 1298 (Herb. Erben = Li-200); Kardamili, rupi calcaree conglomeratiche sul mare, 28 August 1999, Bartolo, Brullo, Guarino & Signorello s.n. (CAT); Stupo presso Neihori, rupi calcaree sul mare, 26 August 1999, Bartolo, Brullo, Guarino & Signorello s.n. (CAT); Agios Nikolaos a S di Neohori, rupi calcareo-arenacee sul mare, 26 August 1999, Bartolo, Brullo, Guarino & Signorello s.n. (CAT); Litorale roccioso presso Kardamili (Peloponneso), 18 September 2000, Brullo s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben).

Figures

FIGURE 37. Limonium kardamylii Artelari & Kamari. A) Habit; B) Spikelet; C) Outer bract; D) Middle bract; E) Inner bract; F) Calyx; G) Calyx lobes; H) Leaf. (Habit and leaf drawn from “Kardamili, Brullo s.n., CAT”, spikelet details from “Grau 1298, Herb. Erben”).

FIGURE 90. (Map 5) Geographical distribution of Limonium aucheri (A); L. fragile (B); L. kardamylii (C); L. meandrinum (D); L. messeniacum (E); L. ocymifolium (F); L. thirae (G).