Limonium creticum Artelari (1989b: 415)

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

43. Limonium creticum Artelari (1989b: 415) ( Fig. 43 )

Type:― GREECE. Crete: Kriti island, Nomos Irakliou, Ep. Pirgiotissis: on maritime marls of village Matala , 2 June 1988, Artelari & Chondropoulos 1028 (holotype UPA, isotypes B!, C!, L!, M!, W!, Herb. Erben!) .

= Limonium rigidum A. Mayer (1995: 93) . Type:― GREECE. Crete: Crete , Ep. Pirjiotissis, 1 km N of Kalamaki, 5 km SW of Timbaki. Eroded cliff, on yellowish marls, 29 June 1990, Mayer 0689 (holotype M!, isotype Herb. A. Mayer).

Description: —Plant perennial, glabrous, forming a sub-shrub 20–50 cm tall, with few erect stems and a robust tap-root. Caudices 2–15 cm long, branched, spirally leafy in the upper half, living leaves in rosettes at apices. Leaves coriaceous, flat, rigid, grey-olivaceous, scabrous, 25–85 mm long and 8–20 mm broad, spathulate to oblanceolate, apex obtuse to rounded, cuspidate to mucronulate, with one central nerve, gradually tapering into the petiole. Stems normally robust, 15–45 cm long, more or less flexuous, verrucate to rugose, branching begins frequently near the base. Inflorescence obtrullate in outline. Sterile branches absent or only 1–3 per stem, straight to arched, 0.5–8 cm long, mostly unbranched. Fertile branches robust, 3–18 cm long, slightly arched to straight, forming branching angles of 40°–60°, branched. Spikes 15–80 mm long, straight to arched, inserted obliquely. Spikelets 6.6–7.3 mm long, composed of 1–3 flowers, remotely arranged with 2–4 per cm, sometimes laterally slightly curved near the base. Outer bract 2.5–3.0 mm long and 2.0– 2.5 mm broad, more or less narrowly triangular-ovate, acute; bract margin broadly membranous; central part slightly fleshy, sometimes only at the base, acuminate. Middle bract membranous, 2.6–3.2 mm long and 1.9–2.5 mm broad, oblong-obovate, rounded. Inner bract 6.2–6.8 mm long and 4.1–4.8 mm broad, obovate, rounded; bract margin very broadly membranous; central part fleshy, somewhat hard, 4.9–5.3 mm long and 2.4–3.0 mm broad, oblong to elliptic, acuminate, forming a triangular tip, 0.8–1.0 mm long, not reaching the upper margin. Calyx 5.1–6.4 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by 0.5–1.5 mm; calyx tube more or less sparsely long hairy, with 5 ribs ending above the base of lobes; calyx lobes ca. 0.7 × 0.9 mm, broadly semi-elliptic. Corolla violet.

Chromosome number: —2n = 51 ( Artelari 1989b).

Distribution: —Restricted to Crete, where it grows in the northwest coast between Chania and Cap Drapano, and in the central-southern part between Timbaki and Kali Limenes ( Fig. 88E ).

Habitat: —Calcareous and marly rocky coast.

Taxonomic remarks: — L. creticum is closely related to L. minoicum , from which it differs by having 1-nerved leaves, and longer spikelets, bracts and calyces. From L. sieberi it differs by having 1-nerved, grey-olivaceous leaves and from L. hierapetrae by having more densely arranged leaves, shorter outer bracts and longer inner bracts.

Specimens examined: — GREECE. Crete: Ep. Kidonia, Halbinsel Akrotiri, Kalatàs-Bucht südwestlich Chorafàkia , 0–1 m, Sandstrand , 25 April 1960, Greuter s.n. (Herb. Greuter); Ep. Apokoronos: Kap Drapano, 20 m, Kalk. Häufig auf Felsgrund in der Halopyhthenflur der Sprühzone, 24 June 1962, Greuter 4745 (Herb. Greuter); Ep. Kidonia, Halbinsel Akrotiri, Kalatàs-Bucht südwestlich Chorafàkia, 2 m, pleistoz. Strandkonglomerat. Häufig

LIMONIUM (PLUMBAGINACEAE)

Phytotaxa 240 (1) © 2016 Magnolia Press • 103 104 • Phytotaxa 240 (1) © 2016 Magnolia Press

BRULLO & ERBEN in der Sprühzone, doch erst spärlich blühend, 30 May 1962, Greuter 4584 (Herb. Greuter); Crete, Kommos , sandy sea-cliff, 18 January 1980, Shay 80–689 (B) ; Kreta, Eparchie Pirjiotissi: archäologisches Ausgrabungsgebiet “Kommos”, April 1980, Shay s.n. (B) ; Crete, Hill top area of Kommos excavation site, near village of Pitsidia , 9 May 1984, Shay 1264 (B) ; Crete, Ep. Pirgiotissis, 1 km N of Kalamaki, 5 km SW of Timbaki. Eroded cliff, on yellowish marls, 29 June 1990, A. Mayer 0689 (M) ; Creta, Matala ( Timbaki ), rupi marnose, 3 August 1989, Brullo & Pavone s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben) ; Creta, Kalamaki , 21 August 1996, Brullo & Guarino s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben) ; Creta, Matala , 21 August 1996, Brullo & Guarino s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben) ; Creta, presso Kali Limenes , rocce calcaree, 21 August 1996, Brullo & Guarino s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben) ; Creta, Kalamaki , rupi marnose, 26 June 2002, Brullo & Giusso s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben) ; Creta, Matala , 26 June 2002, Brullo & Giusso s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben) ; Creta, Komos , rupi marnose costiere, 26 June 2002, Brullo & Giusso s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben) .

Figures

FIGURE 43. Limonium creticum Artelari. A) Habit; B) Spikelet; C) Outer bract; D) Middle bract; E) Inner bract; F) Calyx; G) Calyx lobes; H) Leaves. (Habit and leaves drawn from “Creta, Matala, Brullo & Giusso s.n., CAT”, spikelet details from “R. Artelari & Chondropoulos 1028, M”).

FIGURE 88. (Map 3) Geographical distribution of Limonium amopicum (A); L. doerfleri (B); L. ikaricum (C); L. elaphonisicum (D); L. creticum (E); L. damboldtianum (F); L. astypaleanum (G); L. glomeratum (H); L. grabusae (I); L. isidorum (J); L. cythereum (K); L. kirikosicum (L); L. dolihiense (M); L. minoicum (N).