Limonium cornarianum Kypriotakis & Artelari (1998: 143)

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

42. Limonium cornarianum Kypriotakis & Artelari (1998: 143) ( Fig. 42 )

Type:― GREECE. Crete: Kriti island, Nomos Lasithiou, Ep. Sitias: Moni Kapsa, on calcareous maritime rocks, 35° 01´N, 26° 03´E, 20 September 1994, Kypriotakis 8534 (holotype UPA) .

Description: —Plant perennial, glabrous, forming a sub-shrub 15–45 cm tall, with several erect to ascending stems and a robust tap-root. Caudices 9–20 mm long, branched, densely spirally leafy in the upper half; living leaves in rosettes at apices. Leaves fleshy, glaucous, flat, slightly verrucate to rugose, 20–65 mm long and 4–10 mm broad, narrowly oblanceolate-spathulate, apex obtuse to acute, sometimes mucronate, retuse, margin revolute, with one central nerve, only sometimes with two lateral nerves, gradually tapering into the petiole. Stems glaucous, 8–40 cm long, slightly flexuous, verrucate to rugose, branching begins above lower third of the stems. Inflorescence paniculate or rhombic to trullate in outline. Sterile branches absent or only 1–3 per stem, 10–40 mm long, straight, unbranched. Fertile branches 3–12 cm long, straight to slightly curved, directed obliquely upwards, forming branching angles of 45°– 60°, loosely branched. Spikes 1–5 cm long, straight to slightly curved, directed obliquely upwards. Spikelets 4.5–6.4 mm long, composed of 1–3 flowers, remotely to densely arranged with 2–5 per cm; mainly distichous. Outer bract 1.5–2.2 mm long and 1.8–2.1 mm broad, triangular-ovate, acute; bract margin broadly membranous; central part slightly fleshy, acuminate; sometimes slightly keeled on the back. Middle bract membranous, 1.6–2.5 mm long and 1.2–1.8 mm broad, oblong-elliptic, rounded. Inner bract 3.8–5.2 mm long and 3.2–3.9 mm broad, obovate, rounded; bract margin more or less narrowly membranous; central part fleshy, 3.5–4.2 mm long and 2.0– 2.5 mm broad, oblong to oblong-obovate, acuminate, forming a triangular tip, 0.5–0.8 mm long, not reaching the upper margin. Calyx 3.5–4.8 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by c. 1.0 mm; calyx tube sparsely long hairy, with 5 ribs ending at the base of lobes; calyx lobes c. 0.6 × 0.9 mm, semi-elliptic. Corolla pale violet, diameter 6–7mm.

LIMONIUM (PLUMBAGINACEAE)

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BRULLO & ERBEN

Chromosome number: —2n = 43 (Erben Li–1727, unpubl.).

Distribution: —Confined to southeast Crete, between Ierapetra and Moni Kapsa gorge ( Fig. 92F ).

Habitat: —Calcareous and marly rocky coast, as well as gorge cliffs near the sea.

Taxonomic remarks: — L. cornarianum is similar to L. hierapetrae , from which it differs by having smaller leaves and shorter spikelets and calyces.

Specimens examined: — GREECE. Crete: Ost-Creta, Felsen, 40 m, bei Moni Kapsa, Exp. NO, 15 June 1990, Ulrich s.n. (M, Herb. Ulrich); Crete, Sitia 3 km SSW of Kato Peri Volaka, lower part of Moni Kapsas gorge, 20 m, a E facing calcareous cliff, 31 March 1990, Turland 123 (BM); Crete, Sitia, 3 km SSW of Kato Peri Volaka, lower part of Moni Kapsa gorge, alt. 15 m, crevice of E facing calcareous cliff, 26 June 1994, Turland 777 (BM); Creta, costa marnosa ad Est di Ierapetra, 23 August 1996, Brullo & Guarino s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben); Creta, costa rocciosa ad Est di Ierapetra , 10 June 2000, Brullo & Giusso s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben); Creta, Kalo Nero, 24 August 1996, Brullo & Guarino s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben); Creta, Makri Gialos, 24 August 1996, Brullo & Guarino s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben); Creta, Kalo Nero, 10 June 2000, Brullo & Giusso s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben); Creta, sotto il monastero Kapsa presso Kalo Nero, 24 August 1996, Brullo & Guarino s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben); Creta, Moni Kapsa, 10 June 2000, Brullo & Giusso s.n. (CAT, Herb. Erben); Ost-Kreta, Kapsa, 31 March 2007, Kattari s.n. (Herb. Erben = Li–1727); Kreta, Prov. Sitia, Südküste, Kloster Kapsa, 31 March 2007, Tillich 5230 (MSB 135719) .

Figures

FIGURE 42. Limonium cornarianum Kypriotakis & Artelari. A) Habit; B) Spikelet; C) Outer bract; D) Middle bract; E) Inner bract; F) Calyx; G) Calyx lobes; H) Leaves. (Drawn from “Creta, Kalo Nero, Brullo & Giusso s.n., CAT, Herb. Erben”).

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).