Linaria becerrae Blanca, Cueto & J. Fuentes, 2017

Blanca, Gabriel, Cueto, Miguel & Fuentes, Julián, 2017, Linaria becerrae (Plantaginaceae), a new endemic species from the southern Spain, and remarks on what Linaria salzmannii is and is not, Phytotaxa 298 (3), pp. 261-268 : 262-264

Linaria becerrae Blanca, Cueto & J. Fuentes , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1A− B )

− Linaria salzmannii auct., non Boissier (1841: 456)

Type:— SPAIN. Málaga: Ardales, El Chorro, near Iglesia Rupestre and Portezuelos, 450 m elevation, 2 March 2016, G. Blanca, M. Becerra & J. Fuentes (holotype: GDA 62532!).

Diagnosis:—It differs from Linaria salzmannii Boiss. in having calyx lobes shorter (up to 3.5 mm); corolla smaller [(12−) 13−15 mm, spur excluded], upper lip shorter (up to 9 mm), and spur longer (14−16 mm) and straight; corolla uniformly and intensely violet, excepting the yellow palate, with hardly visible veins.

Description:—Annual herb. Stems thin, often simple or slightly branched; fertile stems 5−15 cm long, arcuateascending, sparsely leafy, bare below the inflorescence, glabrous except the inflorescence, which is glandular-pubescent; sterile stems shorter (up to 7 cm) and more numerous, pubescent. Leaves on fertile stems up to 20 × 1 mm, alternate, linear; those on sterile stems up to 9 × 1.4 mm, 3−4 whorled, oblanceolate. Racemes short, corymbiform, dense, pauciflorous, glandular-pubescent. Bracts 2.5–3 mm long, linear-lanceolate. Pedicels c. 3 mm long, erect, mostly adnate to the axis of the inflorescence, as long as the bracts, slightly longer at fruiting, glandular-pubescent. Calyx 4−5 mm, with lobes up to 3.5 × 0.5−0.9 mm, fused at the base, linear-oblanceolate, glandular-pubescent on margins. Corolla personate, spurred, up to 30 mm long (spur included), or (12−) 13−15 mm (spur excluded), uniformly and intensely violet, excepting the yellow palate, with hardly visible veins; tube as long as the calyx; upper lip up to 9 mm long, bilobate, with a slit of ca. 3 mm; spur 14−16 mm long, somewhat longer than the rest of the corolla, narrowly conical, straight, violet. Capsule 2.5−3 mm, shorter than the calyx, broadly ellipsoid, apex bilobate; style 4−5 mm long, persistent, apex bifid. Seeds 0.6−0.7 mm, wingless, with deep transverse and slightly sinuous crests, black in colour.

Eponymy:— The specific epithet honours Manuel Becerra, who encouraged our study of the Linaria populations from Málaga province, as he himself had already noticed the differences between the new species and L. salzmannii .

Distribution and habitat:— Linaria becerrae is a species endemic to southern peninsular Spain, restricted to western Málaga province. It grows exclusively on sandy substrates from the decomposition of molasse (conglomerates and detritic sandstones), forming part of communities of ephemeral annual herbs, near the locality El Chorro.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— SPAIN. Málaga : Álora , Mesas de Villaverde, 28 April 1983, Ladero, Navarro, Valdés Franzi & González ( MA 330533 !) ; Álora , próx. Pantano del Chorro, 29 April 1981, Pérez Raya & Molero Mesa ( GDA 12941 !) ; Álora , Sierra del Agua, mesa de Villaverde, arenas miocenas, 30 April 1977, Fuertes, Ladero & G. López ( GDA 8670 !, MA 330541 !) ; Ardales , cruce con Bobastro, 260 m, 26 March 1993, B. Cabezudo, A. Flores & P. Navas ( MGC 35995 !) ; Ardales , mesa de Villaverde, antigua ciudad de Bobastro, calcarenitas, 600 m, 15 March 2013, B. Soriguer & F. Soriguer ( MGC 76334 !) ; Ardales , Monte Almorchón, 11 June 1930, L. Ceballos & C. Vicioso ( MA 109353 !) ; Ardales , Paraje Natural Desfiladero de los Gaitanes , Sierra del Almorchón, carretera MA-444, poco antes del cruce a Bobastro, 300 m, 15 March 2013, B. Soriguer & F. Soriguer ( MGC 76342 !) ; Ardales , Sierra del Almorchón, cerro por encima del arroyo Granado, 300 m, 15 March 2013, B. Soriguer & F. Soriguer ( MGC 76351 !) ; Ardales , Sierra de la Pizarra, 16 June 1993, A. V. Pérez Latorre & P. Navas ( MGC 36088 !) ; El Chorro, 17 April 1982, E. Rico ( MA 330539 !) ; El Chorro, areniscas, 14 April 1969, P. Gibbs, S. Silvestre & B. Valdés ( MA 194849 !, MA 423605 !) ; El Chorro, Sierra de Almorchón , 300 m, 17 April 2009, M. Fernández-Mazuecos & J. Ramírez ( MA 876043 !) ; Pantano del Chorro , Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, areniscas miocenas, 23 March 1978, E. Fuertes ( GDA 8863 !, MA 213612 !, MA 333297 !) ; Paraje Natural Desfiladero de los Gaitanes, desde la Fuente del Carrizo a los altos de Cuevas Pardas, 450 m, calcarenitas, 12 April 2013, B. Cabezudo, J. García-Sánchez & F. Soriguer ( MGC 76679 !) ; Pizarra , Hacho de Pizarra, carril de subida al Santo, roquedos y laderas rocosas sobre molasas, 190 m, 30 March 2006, B. Cabezudo, A. V. Pérez Latorre, G. Caballero, F. C. Soriguer & O. Gavira ( MGC 66104 !) ; Sierra de Pizarra , proximidades de Bobastro, 3 June 2008, B. Díez Garretas & A. Asensi ( MGC 68794 !) .

Taxonomic discussion:— The main differences between Linaria becerrae and its closest relatives inhabiting southern Spain are shown in Table 1, and are easily visualised in Fig. 1 . The newly described species is mainly distinguished by the combination of two characteristics: corolla uniformly and intensely violet (excepting the yellow palate), and spur 14-16 mm long, somewhat longer than the rest of the corolla. Conversely, L. salzmannii ( Fig. 1C ), the species to which the populations of L. becerrae were referred, can be well distinguished from the latter by its calyx lobes longer (5−6 mm), corolla larger (14−16 mm, spur excluded), upper lip longer (up to 12 mm), and spur shorter (up to 10 mm), much shorter than the rest of the corolla and often ± curved, the entire corolla yellow to pale violet, excepting the yellow palate, but with marked darker veins. Besides its morphology, L. becerrae is also distinguished from the true L. salzmannii by its ecological behaviour, as the latter inhabits dolomite sands (not sandy molasses).

An additional issue concerns to L. salzmannii var. flava Boiss. , a taxon that has been considered by different authors ( Sutton 1988, Sáez & Bernal 2008, Sáez & Sainz 2011, among others) to deserve subspecific rank as L. viscosa subsp. spicata (Kunze) Sutton (1988: 436) [≡ L. spicata Kunze (1846: 645) ]. However, both taxa are undoubtedly synonymous, since they show the same main characteristics, and the type locality mentioned by Boissier for L. salzmannii var. flava Boiss. (see above) coincides with that indicated by Kunze for L. spicata Kunze : “Sierra Nevada, in latere australi ad rivulos regions alpinae”. This taxon occurs in southern Spain, from eastern Malaga and Granada to Jaén and Albacete provinces ( Sáez & Bernal 2008; Appendix 1), and individuals with yellow flowers and pale-violet flowers (and even with bicoloured corollas) are found even in a single population (Sáez pers. comm.). Furthermore, in agreement with the molecular results of Fernández-Mazuecos & Vargas (2015), those yellow-flowered and violet-flowered plants usually referred to as L. viscosa subsp. spicata (Kunze) D.A.Sutton, and not differing in other morphological features of the corolla, indeed belong to a single species (perhaps as mere varieties) to which the name L. salzmannii is to be applied.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A−B) Linaria becerrae; C) Linaria salzmannii; D) Linaria spartea; E) L. viscosa.