Limonium calliopsium A. Mayer (1995: 91)

Brullo, Salvatore & Erben, Matthias, 2016, The genus Limonium (Plumbaginaceae) in Greece, Phytotaxa 240 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

25. Limonium calliopsium A. Mayer (1995: 91) ( Fig. 25 )

Type:― GREECE. Crete: Crete , 5 km W of Rethymno, below the road to Chania. Limestone / beachrock riff extremely rugged, close to the water line, 14 July 1990, Mayer 0654B (holotype M!, isotype Herb. A. Mayer) .

Description: —Plant perennial, glabrous, forming a sub-shrub 15–55 cm tall, with few erect stems and a robust tap-root. Caudices 20–80 mm long, densely branched and densely spirally leafy with withered leaves; living leaves in rosettes at apices. Leaves fleshy, glaucous, flat, smooth, 15–35 mm long and 4–10 mm broad, spathulate to oblanceolate, apex obtuse to round, retuse, slightly mucronate, with one central nerve, gradually tapering into the petiole. Stems glaucous, 12–45 cm long, slightly flexuous, rugose, sometimes verrucate, branching begins above the base of the stems, sometimes proliferating in axils. Inflorescence trullate or obtrullate in outline. Sterile branches absent or only 1–2 per stem, 0.5–5 cm long, straight, unbranched. Fertile branches 1–11 cm long, slightly arched to straight, directed obliquely upwards, forming branching angles of 35°–60°, normally unbranched. Spikes 20–80 mm long, arched, inserted obliquely or spreading. Spikelets 8.5–9.0 mm long, composed of 1–3 flowers, very remotely arranged with 1–4 per 2 cm. Outer bract 2.7–3.2 mm long and 1.8–2.1 mm broad, triangular–elliptic, acute to obtuse; bract margin broadly membranous; central part slightly fleshy, sometimes only at the base, acuminate. Middle bract membranous, 3.0– 3.3 mm long and 1.8–2.2 mm broad, oblong to obovate-elliptic,

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BRULLO & ERBEN rounded. Inner bract 7.8–8.3 mm long and 3.7–4.2 mm broad, obovate to elliptic, obtuse; bract margin broadly membranous; central part slightly fleshy, 5.2–6.1 mm long and 2.1–2.6 mm broad, oblong, acuminate, forming a narrowly triangular tip, 1.2–1.8 mm long, not reaching the upper margin. Calyx 6.2–7.0 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by 0.5–1.0 mm; calyx tube sparsely shortly to long hairy, with 5 ribs ending near the upper margin of lobes; calyx lobes ca. 1.0 × 1.2 mm, semi-elliptic to triangular-ovate. Corolla sky-blue.

LIMONIUM (PLUMBAGINACEAE)

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BRULLO & ERBEN

Distribution:— Northwest coast of Crete ( Fig. 92A )

Habitat:— Calcareous rocky coast.

Taxonomic remarks:— L. calliopsium is closely related to L. sitiacum and should be considered to be a western geographical vicariant. It differs from L. sitiacum by having more remotely arranged spikelets and shorter inner bracts. L. calliopsium differs from L. oligotrichum and L. amopicum by having broader, smooth leaves, from L. vanandense and L. samium by having longer inner bracts and smooth leaves and from L. monolithicum by having smooth leaves and shorter calyces.

Specimens examined:— GREECE. Crete: Creta, in rupestribus maritimis ultra Gerani, distr. Rethymniotika, 11 July 1899, Baldacci 246 (M, W, WU); Creta, Gerani, 26 August 1996, Brullo & Guarino s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben); Creta, 5 km ad ovest di Rethymno , falesia calcarea, 3 June 2000, Brullo & Giusso s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben); Creta, Grave of Venizelos (Chania), 4 June 2000, Brullo & Giusso s.n., sheet 1 (CAT, Herb. Erben) .

Figures

FIGURE 25. Limonium calliopsium A. Mayer. A) Habit; B) Spikelet; C) Outer bract; D) Middle bract; E) Inner bract; F) Calyx; G) Calyx lobes; H) Leaves. (Habit and leaves drawn from “Creta, Rethymno, Brullo & Giusso s.n. CAT”, spikelet details from “A. Mayer 0654B, M“).

FIGURE 92. (Map 7) Geographical distribution of Limonium calliopsium (A); L. carpathum (B); L. chersonesum (C); L. chrisianum (D); L. contractum (E); L. cornarianum (F); L. hierapetrae (G); L. sougiae (H).