Turk J Bot 27 (2003) 447-452 © TÜB‹TAK Research Article Taxonomy and Conservation Status of Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. ex Bunge (Plumbaginaceae) Musa DO⁄AN Middle East Technical University, Department of Biology, 06531 Ankara - TURKEY Hayri DUMAN Gazi University, Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology, 06500 Ankara - TURKEY Galip AKAYDIN Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education, Department of Biology, 06532 Ankara - TURKEY Received: 08.10.2002 Accepted: 02.05.2003 Abstract: Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. ex Bunge (Plumbaginaceae), a local endemic species in Turkey, was subjected to taxonomic analysis in order to clarify its taxonomic status, because this species seems to have been wrongly treated and overlooked since it was first described by Boissier. The species is restricted to the east of Arsuz (C5 Hatay, Turkey) along dry riverbank, where it grows in rocky places on serpentine rocks. A full description and an illustration of the species are given, along with some additional information dealing with its ecology, phytogeography and conservation status. Key Words: Acantholimon, Plumbaginaceae, Taxonomy, Conservation. Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. ex Bunge (Plumbaginaceae) Türünün Taksonomisi ve Korunma Statüsü Özet: Türkiye’de lokal bir endemik tür olan Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. ex Bunge (Plumbaginaceae)’ un taksonomik statüsünün anlafl›labilmesi için detayl› taksonomik analizler yap›lm›flt›r. Bu türün, E. Boissier taraf›ndan tan›mland›ktan sonra yanl›fl de¤erlendirildi¤i görülmektedir. Arsuz’un (C5 Hatay, Türkiye) do¤usunda, kuru dere yataklar› boyunca, serpantin kayal›klar üzerinde yetiflen bu türün ayr›nt›l› tan›m› ve çizimi yan›nda ekolojisi ve fitoco¤rafyas› ile korunma statüsü hakk›nda da bilgiler verilmifltir. Anahtar Sözcükler: Acantholimon, Plumbaginaceae, Taksonomi, Korunma Introduction The genus Acantholimon Boiss. was first described by Boissier (1879) in his Flora Orientalis, in which he recognised 74 species. This genus is mainly distributed from South East Europe to Central Asia, and some species are also found in South America. The genus is of considerable ornamental importance, with attractive long-lasting flowers. In Turkey, the first revision of Acantholimon was carried out by Bokhari & Edmondson (1982) in Davis’ Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands, in which they recognised 25 species and indicated the possibility of finding additional species, either imperfectly known (two species) of doubtfully recorded (nine species), from Turkey. They placed all the Acantholimon species found in Turkey in to three sections: Acantholimon, Tragacanthina Bunge and Staticopsis Boiss. One can easily recognise the members of sect. Tragacanthina by their heteromorphic leaves, lax inflorescense and tubular calyx. This section includes only two closely related species, A. curviflorum Bunge and A. quinquelobum Bunge, in Turkey, although more species are present in other countries. In sect. Acantholimon, inflorescence is capitate, the leaves are heteromorphic and the spikelets are (1-)2-5 flowered and 2-6 bracteate. This section covers A. bracteatum (Girard) Boiss. and A. petuniiflorum Mobayen. In sect. Staticopsis, the leaves are monomorphic and the inflorescence is a simple or branched spike. The latter section covers the remaining 447 Taxonomy and Conservation Status of Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. ex Bunge (Plumbaginaceae) species in the Flora. The section was further divided into three subsections: Caryophyllacea Bunge (including A. venustum Boiss., A. halophilum Bokhari, A. acerosum (Willd.) Boiss., A. caryophyllaceum Boiss., A. armenum Boiss. & Huet, A. kotschyii (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss., A. confertiflorum Bokhari, A. dianthifolium Bokhari and A. libanoticum Boiss.), Microcalycina Bunge (including A. spirizianum Mobayen) and Androsacea Bunge (including A. glumaceum (Jaub. & Spach) Boiss., A. caesareum Boiss. & Ball, A. huetii Boiss., A. calvertii Boiss., A. hypochaerum Bokhari, A. puberulum Boiss. & Ball, A. reflexifolium Bokhari, A. ulicinum (Willd. ex Schultes) Boiss., A. damassanum Mobayen, A. saxifragiforme [Hausskn. & Sint. ex] Bokhari and A. strigillosum Bokhari). Muvaffak et al. (2001) conducted a taxonomic study on the Acantholimon species found in Ankara province and grouped them into three subsections: Caryophyllacea, Halophiliacea Muvaffak & Do¤an and Androsacea of sect. Staticopsis. One of these, subsect. Halophiliacea, was described for the first time on the basis of the evidence obtained by means of numerical taxonomy. Since the summer of 2000, and for a three-year period, a revisional study of the genus Acantholimon has been carried out in Turkey by M. Do¤an and G. Akayd›n, who have collected a large number of specimens. Examination of these specimens has revealed five new species: Acantholimon birandii (Do¤an & Akayd›n, 2001), A. avanosicum (Do¤an & Akayd›n, 2002a), A. karamanicum (Akayd›n & Do¤an, 2002), A. anatolicum (Do¤an & Akayd›n, 2002b) and A. yildizelicum (Akayd›n, 2002). In August 2000, H. Duman collected a few Acantholimon specimens from Arsuz province in Hatay (C5, sensu Davis 1965) during an excursion to collect fruiting Sideritis libanonica Labill. After a close examination of the specimens and consulting on their identity with Do¤an and Akayd›n, additional flowering material was collected from the area in 2001. The specimens were also cross-checked with various Acantholimon accounts given in the relevant floras and monographs, such as Flora Orientalis (Boissier, 1879), Flora Iranica (Rechinger & Schiman-Czeika, 1974), Flora Europaea (Tutin et al., 1972), Flora of USSR (Linchevskii, 1952), Flora of Syria, Palestine and Sinai (Post, 1933) and Die Gattung Acantholimon Boiss. (Bunge, 1872). More specimens, either collected from the field or stored 448 at herbaria in Ankara (ANK, GAZI, ISTF and HUB), were also examined for the same purpose. When Do¤an examined the types of Boissier kept at Geneva (G) in April 2002, he studied the holotype of Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. ex Bunge, which was collected from Arsuz in 1862 by Kotschy (nr. 128). This matches the specimens of H. Duman perfectly. The main objective of this study is to clarify the taxonomic and conservation status of A. laxiflorum and to provide a detailed description and an illustration of the plant (Fig. 1). The author abbreviations follow Brummitt and Powell (1992). Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. ex Bunge, in Mém. Acad. Sci. Pétersb. ser. 7, 18: 28 (1872)! Syn. A. venustum Boiss. var. laxiflorum (Boiss. ex Bunge) Bokhari in Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 32: 70 (1972) [sect. Staticopsis Boiss.- subsect. Caryophyllacea Bunge] (Figures 1, 2.) Laxly pulvinate, glaucous-green shrublet; base of previous leaves persistent, circinnate. Leaves green to glaucous-green, linear-triquetrous, subulate, 18-65 x 11.5(-2) mm, margins scabrid, narrow hyaline on lower parts, with yellowish spiny tip to 1.5 mm. Scapes simple, 18-38 cm, distinctly longer than leaves, glabrous. Spikes simple, laxly distichous, 15-30 cm. Spikelets 16-36, 1flowered, 13-15 mm, shorter than internodes in lower part, equal or longer than in upper part. Outer bract distinctly shorter than inner bracts, herbaceous, ovatetriangular, 6-8 mm, with narrow hyaline margin, acuminate, shortly cuspidate, glabrous; inner bracts 9-11 mm, oblong-lanceolate, with broad hyaline margins, acuminate-cuspidate, longer ones pilose, shorter glabrous. Calyx infundibular, 11-14 mm, sparsely pilose on tube (especially on veins); limb brownish or rarely dirty white, 10-lobed, lobes truncate-obtuse, margins erose, c. 8-9 mm in diameter; veins dark brown, not excurrent, sparsely pilose below, glabrous above. Petals pink. TYPE: [C5 Hatay, Turkey] in glareosis fluvii Nahr Syad infra pagum Ursusa montis Amani, Syriae bor., 200’, 2.7.1862, Kotschy 128 (G!). Additional specimen examined: C5 Hatay: Arsuz, Avc›larsuyu Deresi (Nahr Syad), 30 m, on serpentine rocks, dry stream sides, lat 36º22’58’’N, long 35º53’01’’E, 9.8.2000, H. Duman 8422 (Chorotype: M. DO⁄AN, H. DUMAN, G. AKAYDIN D B E F C G 1 cm 1 cm A 1 cm Figure 1. Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. A: habit, B: spikelet, C: calyx, D: bracts, E: outer bract, F: inner bract, G: outer and inner bract. 449 Taxonomy and Conservation Status of Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. ex Bunge (Plumbaginaceae) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 42° A 40° B 38° C 0 26° 28° 30° 32° 34° 36° 38° 100 40° 200 42° 36° 44° Figure 2. Distribution of (◆) Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. in Turkey. GAZI). Ibid. 23.6.2001, H. Duman 8588 (Chorotype: GAZI, ANK, HUB). South Anatolia. Only known from the type locality. laxiflorum with circinnate leaf bases from the previous year, was given by Do¤an & Akayd›n (2003). Ecology and Phytogeography Result and Discussion Since its first publication (Bunge, 1872), Acantholimon laxiflorum has been restudied only by Bokhari & Edmondson (1982), who combined it as a variety under A. venustum Boiss. and cited a number of specimens from the grid squares B7, C2 and C3 in Turkey. Surprisingly deviating from the protologue (which refers only to the Kotschy collection), they cited a specimen from Elmal› (C2 Antalya) collected by Bourgeau (no. 295) as a type specimen. Bourgeau’s specimen seems to be a lax form of A. venustum without circinnate leaf bases. This species grows on rocky igneous slopes, limestone hills, mountain steppe, and Pinus and mixed forests at higher altitudes (650-2350 m). By contrast, A. laxiflorum is a lowland endemic which grows in rocky places on serpentine rocks at an altitude of 30-60 m and is restricted to the Arsuz area in Hatay (type locality). However, as indicated in Table 1, A. laxiflorum seems to be quite distinct from A. venustum as well as A. calvertii with regard to its morphological, ecological and phytogeographical properties. An identification key for the newly described Turkish endemics, including A. 450 The steno–endemic Acantholimon laxiflorum is found on serpentine rocks along the coast, and some populations are confined to dry stream banks above Arsuz, where it grows together with a few other rare species, such as Sideritis libanotica Labill. subsp. libanotica, Phlomis amanica Vierh. (local endemic), Stachys annua (L.) L., Satureja thymbra L., Thymus cilicicus Boiss. & Ball (endemic), Anchusa aucheri DC., Ankyropetalum arsusianum Kotschy ex Boiss. (local endemic), Centaurea antiochia Boiss. var. antiochia (endemic), Phagnalon graecum Boiss. and Ptilostemon diacantha (Labill.) Greuter subsp. turcicus Greuter. These lowland areas of the Amonos Mountains facing the Mediterranean Sea are rather interesting because many Irano-Turanian and Saharo-Arabian elements are also found in habitats next to cultivated land. The vegetation types in the Amanos Mountains have been fully investigated by Kehl (1998). Akman (1995) also provided a good deal of information about the plant associations in the forest ecosystem lying slightly higher than the habitat from which A. laxiflorum has again been collected. M. DO⁄AN, H. DUMAN, G. AKAYDIN Table 1. A comparison of Acantholimon laxiflorum, A. venustum and A. calvertii. A. laxiflorum A. venustum A. calvertii Habit Laxly pulvinate shrublet Laxly to densely pulvinate shrublet Laxly pulvinate shrublet Leaves 18-65 x 1-1.5 (2) mm, lineartriquetrous to subulate, glaucous-green, margins scabrid, previous year’s leaf bases circinnate 15-40 x 1-2 mm, linear to inear-lanceolate, glaucous to glaucous-green, margins scabrid, previous year’s leaf bases not circinnate 20-35 x 0.8-1 mm, lineartriquetrous, green, margins ciliolate-scabridulous, previous year’s leaf bases circinnate Scapes Exceeding leaves, 18-38 cm, with 1-2 scales, glabrous Exceeding or equalling with leaves, 6-10 cm, with 2 scales, scabridilous Exceeding leaves, 5-15 cm, with 1 - scale, glabrous Inflorescense Simple laxly distichous spike Simple laxly distichous spike 2 branched, densely distichous spike Spike 150-300 mm long, with 16-36 spikelets 20-50 mm long, with 7-15 spikelets 18-30 mm long, with 6-10 spikelets Spikelets 13-15 mm, 1-flowered 12-14 mm, 1-flowered 12-17 mm, 1-flowered Bracts Unequal, glabrous, pilose on the innermost bract only Unequal, glabrous Subequal, puberulous to glabrous Outer bract 6-8 mm, ovate-triangular, acuminate with narrow hyaline margin 3-6 mm, ovate-triangular, acute to acuminate with narrow hyaline margin 7-8 mm, triangular-lanceolate, acuminate with narrow hyaline margin Inner bracts 9-11 mm, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate-cuspidate, with broadly hyaline margin 7-9 mm, oblong-lanceolate, keeled acute to obtuse, cuspidate, with broadly hyaline margin 8-10 mm, narrowly oblonglanceolate, acuminate, with broadly hyaline margin Calyx 11-14 mm, sparsely pilose on tube; limb brownish, 10-lobed; veins not excurrent 14-15 mm, pilose on tube; limb pink to purple or brownish, 5-lobed; veins reaching margin 10-12 mm, sparsely pilose on tube; limb white or purplish, 10-lobed; veins reaching margin or excurrent Petals Pink Deep pink Bright pink Flowering time 7–8 6–8 6–8 Habitat Serpentine Igneous slopes, limestone hills, steppe, mixed forest Igneous rocks, limestone slopes Altitude sl. – 60 m 650 – 2350 m 1210 – 3535 m Phytogeography Mediterranean Irano-Turanian Irano-Turanian Arsuz (now called Uluç›nar) is on the coast and comes under the influence of the Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters and long hot, arid summers with almost constant droughts broken by occasional thunderstorms in the summer months. The western slopes of the Amanos Mountains receive about 1000–1200 mm of precipitation per year. The yearly average temperature in the area varies between 19 °C and 20 °C and the monthly average temperature is always above 7 °C. This guarantees continuous growth by many plant species (Akman 1995). This is a chorotype: (local) endemic! Conservation status The range of this local endemic species is restricted to a single location (B1a). The populations are pure, 451 Taxonomy and Conservation Status of Acantholimon laxiflorum Boiss. ex Bunge (Plumbaginaceae) occupying an area of less than 10 km2, the number of mature individual specimens being less than 200 (criteron B2 and C), (IUCN, 2001). We thus suggest that this species be placed in the IUCN Critically Endangered (CR) category. 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