Silene saxifraga subsp. balcanica

Đurović, Sanja Z., Kuzmanović, Nevena, Tomović, Gordana & Niketić, Marjan, 2018, Nomenclatural notes and typification of the names related to Silene saxifraga group (Caryophyllaceae), Phytotaxa 344 (3), pp. 201-214 : 206

Silene saxifraga subsp. balcanica

Urumoff (1900: 14) described the new subspecies of Silene saxifraga based on material he collected on Rusalka [“Mara-Gidik”] and Botev [“Jumruk-Čal”] in the central part of the Balkan mountain in Bulgaria. Details on the label of the specimen deposited in PR regarding the type locality and the year of the collection match the data given by Urumoff in the protologue. Greuter et al. (1997) questioned if the type material is deposited in SOM [“?SOM”], but the other specimens collected by Urumoff deposited in SOM (codes 23352, and 23360) and WU from Rusalka, one year earlier (1897), are not mentioned in the protologue. Therefore the specimen in PR is designated here as lectotype.

Greuter (1995b) explained that Urumoff described Silene balcanica on the basis of the plants infected by fungi. The infection causes the change of the anther colour (from red to purple) whereas the main character for delimitation of S. balcanica from S. saxifraga was the red colour of the anthers ( Urumoff 1900). Therefore S. balcanica should not be treated as a distinct species or taxon at any other infraspecific level.

Silene saxifraga subsp. balcanica Urumoff (1900: 14)

≡ Silene balcanica (Urum.) Hayek (1924: 270) .

Lectotype (designated here):— BULGARIA: Mts Stara Planina , Mt Kaloferska Planina , Rusalka, “ad Mara-gidik”, 1898, Urumoff ( PR 842555 !) (Fig. 5).

= Silene saxifraga Linnaeus (1753: 421) .