Alyssum serpentinicola

Cecchi, Lorenzo, Bettarini, Isabella, Colzi, Ilaria, Coppi, Andrea, Echevarria, Guillaume, Pazzagli, Luigia, Bani, Aida, Gonnelli, Cristina & Selvi, Federico, 2018, The genus Odontarrhena (Brassicaceae) in Albania: Taxonomy and Nickel accumulation in a critical group of metallophytes from a major serpentine hot-spot, Phytotaxa 351 (1), pp. 1-28 : 20

7. O. smolikana subsp. glabra (Nyár. ex Markgraf 1931: 337) L.Cecchi & Selvi , comb. & stat. nov.

(≡) A. smolikanum f. glabrum Nyár. ex Markgraf.

Neotype (designated here):— Albanien, Lura , Kunora e Lures , ca. 2000 m, serpentin. 02/08/1959, F. K. Meyer, Flora Albanica no. 4680, JE00016686 ( JE!). The original collection of f. glabrum , formerly in B, was “Nord Albanien, Stammesgebiet Lurja, Kunora e Lurës, Serpentinschutt, 1800 m ü d. M.”, 21/07/1928. Markgraf & Pieper no. 1790”.

The type of A. serpentinicola is selected here to serve also as neotype of O. smolikana subsp. glabra because collected in the same locality, fully matching the original description of the latter taxon and clearly corresponding to it.

(≡) A. serpentinicola Meyer (2011: 65) , syn. nov. ≡ O. serpentinicola (F.K.Mey.) Španiel, Al-Shehbaz, D. A.German & Marhold in Španiel et al. (2015: 2486).

Holotype:— ALBANIA. “ Lura , Kunora e Lures, ca. 2000 m, Serpentin. 02/08/1959, F. K. Meyer, Flora Albanica no. 4680, JE00016686 ( JE!).

Flowering stems up to (15) 20–30 cm, erect-ascending. Sterile shoots at base numerous and much-branched, with rosette-like leaves 6–12(15) × 4–6 mm, broadly spathulate to obovate-cuneate, obtuse, greenish with 1 layer of hairs above, whitish-silvery below for 2 layers of dense hairs with 10–18 rays, 0.3–0.6 mm across. Leaves of flowering stems spathulate, narrower. Inflorescence corymbose, dense, with secondary (rarely tertiary) branches. Partial racemes with (3)8–15 flowers. Fruiting pedicels thick, erecto-patent, straight. Sepals 2.5–3.0 mm. Petals 3.5 mm. Style 1.5–2.0 mm. Siliculae 4.9–5.6 × 2.8–3.0 mm, almond-shaped, symmetrical; valves pale green and slightly inflated when ripe, not undulate, indistinctly veined, glabrous or rarely with very sparse hairs near base. Seeds 2.– 2.4 mm long, including a wing of 0.4 mm. Figs. 3F , 6E , 7E , 13 .

Phenology. Flowering from May to June, fruit ripening from June to July ( Fig. 4 ).

Chromosome number. 2n = 32 ( Fig. 5G ); our count on plants from Mt. Shebenik (FI050433) match a previous report for O. smolikana subsp. smolikana from N Greece ( Contandriopoulos 1969).

Distribution and ecology. Endemic to Albania and restricted to the mountains of the central part of the country ( Fig. 1 ). It grows in mountain grasslands and screes, pastures and rocky slopes, from 1100 to 2000 m a.s.l.

Nickel accumulation. Maximum Ni levels were determined in plants from Krastë (Bulqizë), which were nearly two times higher than those in samples from Shtamë pass east of Krujë ( Table 1).

Comments. The presence of O. smolikana in Albania was originally indicated by the author of the species ( Nyárády 1929b) based on a collection by N. Košanin from “Maja Ranns” (Maja Rauns, in the Lüre region) and supported by later authors (i.e. Greuter et al. 1986, Ball & Dudley 1993, Jalas et al. 1996, Hartvig 2002). The Albanian populations differ from the typical Greek plants from by the glabrous silicles ( Fig. 6E ) and the earlier flowering and fruiting time, and were first described as f. glabrum ( Nyárády 1930) . More recently, the same taxon was described as A. serpentinicola ( Meyer 2011) , based on material from the same region (Lüre). Since the Albanian populations are not sufficiently distinct to be kept as a distinct species, the earlier epithet (“ glabrum ”) is used here for the combination at the subspecies rank.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution of Odontarrhena in Albania; the range of O. chalcidica is given as light grey area, the other taxa as symbols (in legend); major serpentine outcrops are represented as dark grey spots and numbered from the north to the south. 1: Tropoja, 2: Krrabi, 3: Gomsiqe, 4: Puke, 5: Kukesi, 6: Lure, 7: Skenderbeu, 8: Bulqize, 9: Shebenik, 10: Shpati, 11: Vallamara, 12: Devolli, 13: Voskopoja, 14: Morava (after Bani et. al. 2017, modified).

FIGURE 3. The Albanian taxa of Odontarrhena in their natural environment:A) O. albiflora (Mt. Tathë); B) O. chalcidica (Pishkash); C) O. decipiens (Bulqizë); D) O. moravensis (Voskopojë); E) O. rigida (Mt. Shpat); F) O. smolikana subsp. glabra (Mt. Shebenik).

FIGURE 4. Phenological differences between taxa of Odontarrhena in Albania. Bars in light grey indicate the time interval between the decade in which at least 50% of the population is in flower and the decade when full flowering (100%) of the population occurs; bars in dark grey indicate the same interval for the fruiting process (50%-100% of the population with ripe fruits).

FIGURE 5. Micrographs of chromosome metaphase plates of: A) O. muralis (Romania, Deva, type locality, FI052171), 2n = 16; B) O. rigida, 2n =16; C) O. moravensis, 2n = 16; D) O. chalcidica (“A. markgrafii”, FI050423), 2n = 32 + 4B; E) O. chalcidica (type locality of A. elatius, FI052165), 2n = 32; F) O. decipiens (FI050443), 2n = 32+2B; G) O. smolikana subsp. glabra, 2n = 32; H) O. albiflora, 2n = 32. Scale bar = 5 μm. The B-chromosomes are indicated by arrow heads.

FIGURE 6. SEM micrographs of silicles of: A) O. albiflora (FI050840); B) O. chalcidica (neotype of A. markgrafii, FI050424); C) O. chalcidica (Greece, near Thessaloniki, isolectotype, FI010117); D) O. decipiens (FI050445); E) O. smolikana subsp. glabra (FI050433); F) O. moravensis (FI050441); G) O. muralis (Romania, Deva, type locality, FI050439); H) O. rigida (neotype, FI050434). Scale bar = 2mm.

FIGURE 7. SEM micrographs of trichomes on the median part of flowering stems of:A)O. albiflora (FI050840); B) O.chalcidica (neotype of A. markgrafii, FI050424); C) O. chalcidica (FI050422); D) O. decipiens (FI050445); E) O. smolikana subsp. glabra (FI050433); F) O. moravensis (FI050441); G) O. muralis (FI050439 type locality, Romania); H) O. rigida (neotype, FI050434). Scale bar = 500 μm.

FIGURE 13. O. smolikana subsp. glabra. A) habit (fruiting specimen); B) leaf of sterile shoot, showing its upper (on the left) and lower surface (right); C) lateral fruiting raceme; D) flower in lateral view, with isolated sepal and petal; E) silicle in lateral, inner and outer view. Original drawing by L. Cecchi (based on FI050431 and FI050835).