Pulmonaria officinalis Linnaeus (1753: 135)

Astuti, Giovanni, Cristofolini, Giovanni, Peruzzi, Lorenzo & Pupillo, Paolo, 2014, A new subspecies of Pulmonaria officinalis (Boraginaceae) from the southern Alps, Phytotaxa 186 (3), pp. 148-157 : 155-156

Pulmonaria officinalis Linnaeus (1753: 135)

subsp. officinalis ( Figs. 1C, 1E )

“ Habitat in Europae nemoribus ”

Type: —Herb. Burser XIV(2): 51, left specimen (lectotype UPS! Designated by Selvi in Cafferty & Jarvis 2004: 804).

subsp. marzolae G.Astuti, Peruzzi, Cristof. & P.Pupillo subsp. nov. ( Figs. 1A, 1B, 1D, 1E )

Pulmonaria officinalis subsp. marzolae is distinct from P. officinalis subsp. officinalis by the different aspect of basal leaves (somehow heart-shaped with truncate, rarely cordate, base); by a low number of small spots (regularly shaped, dark green, mostly indistinct or absent), never confluent; by an evident shift in foliar morphology from summer to autumn leaves (the latter with an arcuate base); by the presence of microglands and absence of small pins (aculeoli).

Type: — ITALY. Trentino-Alto Adige: Marzola (Trento), lungo il sentiero Bivio II —Sella Marzola, 46°01’32”N, 11°10’50”E, 1640 m, 19 June 2013, P . Pupillo s.n. (holotype FI!)

Rhizomes 3–8 cm long and slender (<1 cm diam.); several shoots with inflorescences can arise from a single rhizome. Lamina of summer leaves up to 16  10 cm, heart-shaped, with truncate to rarely cordate base; spots 42 ± 3, small and regularly shaped, never confluent, dark green, mostly indistinct or absent; upper surface rough, with sparse setae and sparse to abundant microglands (sessile glands); short hairs (puberes), glandular hairs (colleteres) and small pins (aculeoli) absent; petiole up to 15 cm  4 mm; autumn leaves often ovate-lanceolate with a rounded to attenuate base. Flowers with reddish to blue-violet corolla; corolla tube glabrous inside below the ring of hairs. Nutlets not studied.

Additional material seen: — ITALY. Trentino-Alto Adige: Marzola (Trento), lungo il sentiero Bivio II —rifugio Bailoni , 46°01’11”N, 11°10’56”E, 1640 m, 19 June 2013, P . Pupillo s.n. ( BOLO!); ibidem ( ROV!); Marzola (Trento), lungo il sentiero Bivio II —rifugio Bailoni , 1620 m, 46° 01’23”N, 11°10’56”E, 8 June 2013, P . Pupillo s.n. ( BOLO!); Marzola ( Trento ), sopra Bivio I , 1600 m, 46° 02’07”N, 11°11’14”E, 8 June 2013, P . Pupillo s.n. ( ROV!); Marzola ( Trento ), sotto Bivio I , a sx del sentiero, 46° 02’11”N, 11°11’14”E, 1570 m, 8 June 2013, P . Pupillo s.n. ( FI!) .

Suggested conservation status: —The new subspecies occupies a relatively small geographical area, but it does not seem subject to any immediate threat caused by any human activity. The number of individuals is clearly above any critical value and it does not seem to decrease over the years. For this, we propose to include this taxon in the category LC (Least Concern), as defined by the IUCN (2001).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A) A group of five ‘dark’ plants mainly of type ic–ro–cd–he according to definitions provided in Table 1 (spots inconspicuous and round, cordate base, heart shaped), Mt. Marzola (Trento), west beechwood, 1510 m of elevation, July 7, 2012. B) A ‘dark’ plant flowering, same area, 1610 m, May 6, 2012. C) A typical P. officinalis from the NE slopes of Mt. Marzola (Cimirlo-Stelar, 690 m, Sept. 9, 2012) showing leaf pattern transition from ‘mortarspotted’ (mo) to ‘confluent-spotted’ (cf), younger leaves at centre. The plant type is ye–cf–cd–he (spots yellowish, confluent, cordate base, heart shaped) D) Two young ‘dark’ plants of plump (pl) type, same area, 1560 m of elevation, August 21, 2011. E) ‘Dark’ plants from Mt. Marzola (1210 m of elevation) collected in August 2009 and since then grown in pots at 230 m of elevation (left pot) and P. officinalis plants (right pot) from Cimirlo Stelar (see Fig. 1C). July 9, 2011.