Orobanche bartlingii Grisebach (1844: 57)

Piwowarczyk, Renata, Pedraja, Óscar Sánchez, Moral, Gonzalo Moreno, Fayvush, George, Zakaryan, Narine, Kartashyan, Nune & Aleksanyan, Alla, 2019, Holoparasitic Orobanchaceae (Cistanche, Diphelypaea, Orobanche, Phelipanche) in Armenia: distribution, habitats, host range and taxonomic problems, Phytotaxa 386 (1), pp. 1-106 : 83-84

14. Orobanche bartlingii Grisebach (1844: 57) . Type:— GERMANY (holotype reported in Carlón et al. 2009: 18). “Habitat in fruticetis Hassiae inferioris pr. Allendorf [Bad Sooden-Allendorf, Werra-Meissner-Kreis, Hesse] (auctore Bartl. [F.G. Bartling] parasit, in Libanotide)” (GOET-001913-8666! [https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1638445650]). Heterotypic synonyms:— Orobanche libanotidis Ruprecht (1845: 70) ; O. alsatica subsp. libanotidis (Rupr.) Tzvelev (1973: 363) . Fig. 45B .

Note: —We observed some of the syntypes of the synonym in the Paris herbaria, e. g., P-04384459-hb. Bunge [only the specimen to the left of the sheet], P04384459-hb. Kühlewein [only the specimen to the right of the sheet], P-04384460- hb. Kühlewein [only the specimen to the left of the sheet] ( Ledebour 1849: 319, Sanchez Pedraja et al. 2016).

Distribution: —Single localities in the central (Pambaki range, western slopes of the Gegama range, Kotayk prov.), eastern (Vardenis range, Gegharkunik prov.) and southeastern parts (between Karabakh range and Zangezur range, Syunik prov., Piwowarczyk in Nobis et al. 2018a) ( Fig. 56).

General distribution: —Eurasian species, occurring from the Pyrenees in Spain through France, Germany, central Europe, and more frequent in eastern Europe, the Baltic states, Russia, Siberia and the Caucasus.

Habitat: —Subalpine meadows, grassy, rocky slopes, edges of shrubs and forest, 900–2500 m.

Hosts: — Seseli sp. , usually S. libanotis (L.) W.D.J. Koch ( Apiaceae ).

Phenology: —Flowering June to July (August), fruiting July–August.

Conservation status: —Endangered (EN) – B 1 ab (iii) + 2 ab (iii). EOO is less than 5000 km 2, severely fragmented, existing at no more than 5 locations (4 locations in 4 floristic regions), AOO is less than 500 km 2, severely fragmented, existing at no more than 10 locations. Populations are very small, from a few to 30 individuals. Limiting factors are restricted EOO and AOO, loss/degradation of habitats caused by overgrazing.

Notes: —Independent species very closely allied to Orobanche alsatica Kirschleger (1836: 109) , sometimes considered to be conspecific. O. alsatica and O. bartlingii are differentiated by morphology, the former having a longer corolla (20–25 vs. 12–17 mm, respectively), regularly and strongly curved dorsal line of the corolla vs. evenly curved at the base, glandular pubescent style vs. glabrous or rarely glandular-pubescent, stamens inserted 4–7 mm vs. 1–3 mm above base of the corolla tube ( Pujadas Salvà & Gómez García 2000, Piwowarczyk in Nobis et al. 2018a). The differences are also observed in seed and pollen micromorphology ( Piwowarczyk et al. 2014, 2015, Piwowarczyk 2015b), as well as in hosts ( Peucedanum vs. Seseli , respectively).

From the Caucasian subalpine meadows (from Dagestan) O. ingens (Beck) Tzvelev (1990: 182) (= O. alsatica var. heraclei Tzvelev (1957: 591) was also described, with lax inflorescence, longer corolla (25–30 mm), parasitising Heracleum sp. ( Beck 1930, Novopokrovskij & Tzvelev 1958, Tzvelev 2015). Moreover, along the borders of Iran, where typical O. alsatica is absent, O. alsatica var. iranica Tzvelev (1957: 591) was described – with large corolla and subglabrous filaments, host unknown ( Novopokrovskij & Tzvelev 1958). These species require further field study and taxonomic revisions.

Specimens examined: — ARMENIA. Gegharkunik prov.: S of Vardenik , slope near the road, 40°03’58”N, 45°27’25”E, 2415 m, 28 July 2017, R . Piwowarczyk ( ERCB, KTC) ; Kotayk prov.: Fantan , 6 July 1976, S . Grigoryan ( ERCB) [as O. alsatica by T. Tsaturyan]; Miskhana – forest [Hankavan], 10 July 1968, A . Mielikyan ( ERCB) [as O. alsatica by T. Tsaturyan] ; Syunik prov.: between Kharahunj and Vorotan, slope of the Goris river , 39°26’43”N, 46°23’00”E, 975 m, 2 June 2016, R . Piwowarczyk ( KTC) .

Figures

FIGURE 45. General habit of: A. Orobanche colorata, B. O. bartlingii, C. O. alba, D. O. javakhetica, E. O. owerini, F. O. arpica. Photos by Renata Piwowarczyk.