Limonium glomeratum (Tausch) Erben (1980: 561)

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

5. Limonium glomeratum (Tausch) Erben (1980: 561) ( Fig. 5 )

Basionym:― Statice glomerata Tausch (1828: 255) . Type (lectotype designated by Erben 1980):―SARDINIA. Sardinia , s.d., Tausch s.n. ( PRC!) .

Description: —Plant perennial, glabrous, forming a sub-shrub 10–25 cm tall, with few erect stems and a robust tap-root. Caudices 1.5–5.0 cm long, in the upper half branched, living leaves in rosettes at apices. Leaves fleshy, grey-green, glaucous, 25–50 mm long and 8–15 mm broad, oblanceolate, apex acute, with one central nerve, gradually tapering into the petiole. Stems 5–20 cm long, nearly straight, smooth, branching begins above the lower half or above lower 2 third of the stems. Inflorescence obtrullate in outline. Sterile branches absent. Fertile branches 0.5–4.0 cm long, straight, directed obliquely upwards, forming branching angles of 25°– 45°, only longer branches in the upper half loosely divided. Spikes short, 5–15 mm long, more or less straight. Spikelets 5.7–6.0 mm long, composed of 3–4 flowers, very densely arranged with 8–12 per cm. Outer bract 2.0– 2.2 mm long and 2.0– 2.1 mm broad, triangular-ovate, acute; bract margin broadly membranous; central part slightly fleshy, sometimes only the base and the tip, acuminate. Middle bract membranous, 1.9–2.0 mm long and 1.5–1.7 mm broad, oblong-elliptic, emarginate. Inner bract 4.7–5.0 mm long and 3.4–3.5 mm broad, obovate, obtuse to round; bract margin broadly membranous; central part fleshy, 3.5–4.0 mm long and 2.1–2.5 mm broad, oblong, acuminate, forming a narrowly triangular tip, 0.9–1.1 mm long, not reaching the upper margin. Calyx 4.4–4.7 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by 1.0– 1.2 mm; calyx tube on one half sparsely shortly hairy, with 5 ribs ending at the base of lobes; calyx lobes c. 0.5 × 1.0 mm, semi-circular. Corolla lilac.

Chromosome number: —2n = 27 ( Artelari 1992 sub L. densiflorum, Erben Li –310, Li–321, Li–601, Li–643, unpubl.).

Distribution: — L. glomeratum is common in Sardinia and Corsica, while it is very rare in Greece, occurring only on Lefkada. Halácsy (1908) and Artelari (1992) report that it is very localized there ( Fig. 88H ).

Habitat: —Salt marshes near the sea, on sandy soils.

Taxonomic remarks: — L. glomeratum belongs to the L. glomeratum (Tausch) Erben group.

Specimens examined: — GREECE. Ionian Islands: Is. Lefkas: place called Gira close to the city of Lefkas, maritime salt-marshes, 4 August 1986, R. Artelari & Chondropoulos 484 (Herb. Erben); Isola di Lefkas , presso il pantano salmastro a Nord dell’isola, in località Gira su suolo sabbioso-limoso, 15 July 2011, Brullo & Giacalone s.n. (CAT) .

28 • Phytotaxa 240 (1) © 2016 Magnolia Press

BRULLO & ERBEN LIMONIUM (PLUMBAGINACEAE)

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Figures

FIGURE 5. Limonium glomeratum (Tausch) Erben. 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 “Lefkas, Brullo & Giacalone s.n., CAT”, spikelet details from “Lefkas, Artelari et al. s.n., Herb. Erben”).

FIGURE 88. (Map 3) Geographical distribution of Limonium amopicum (A); L. doerfleri (B); L. ikaricum (C); L. elaphonisicum (D); L. creticum (E); L. damboldtianum (F); L. astypaleanum (G); L. glomeratum (H); L. grabusae (I); L. isidorum (J); L. cythereum (K); L. kirikosicum (L); L. dolihiense (M); L. minoicum (N).