Senecio lopezii Boissier (1838: 60)

Calvo, Joel, Álvarez, Inés & Aedo, Carlos, 2015, Systematics of Senecio section Crociseris (Compositae, Senecioneae), Phytotaxa 211 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

11. Senecio lopezii Boissier (1838: 60) . TYPE: Spain, Andalucía, Málaga, desierto de las Nieves prope Yunquera, [36º45'N 4º58'W], S. López s.n. (lectotype, designated by Burdet et al. (1983: 798), G-96312 image!).

Senecio grandiflorus Hoffmannsegg & Link (1825 –1828: 307), nom. illeg. ( McNeill et al. 2012, ICN Art. 53.1), non Bergius (1767: 280). TYPE: [icon] Hoffmannsegg & Link (1825 –1828: 308, fig. 100) (lectotype, designated here).

Senecio gibraltaricus Rouy (1887: 440) . Senecio lopezii var. minor Willkomm (1891: 3) . TYPE: Spain, Andalucía, Cádiz, Los Barrios, Sierra de Palma, près Algeciras, [36º08'N 5º31'W], 10 June 1887, E. Reverchon 137 (lectotype, designated here, G-96307 image!; isolectotypes, B-10-0293987!, BM-1025978 image!, BR-505666!, G-96305 image!, G-96306 image!, JE-11050 image!, JE-11051 image!, JE-11052 image!, JE-11053 image!, LD-1224011 image!, NY!, P-4416880 image!, P-4305116 image!, S!, UPS!, WU!).

Perennial herb. Rhizome 2.4–5.4 cm long, 0.7–1.1 cm in diam., ± horizontal, with swelled fastigiate roots. Stem 50–112 cm, erect, leaved, corrugated, solid, not ramificated, weakly arachnoid to glabrescent, base without remnants of old leaves or tufts of hairs. Basal leaves 15.5–47.5 cm long, 2.7–7.7 cm wide, persistent, lanceolate to widely lanceolate (ratio basal leaf width / basal leaf length = 0.14–0.38), obtuse, rarely acute, attenuate to cuneate, with a petiole 5–18 cm long, entire to crenate, sometimes slightly dentate, glabrous, concolorous. Cauline leaves 5–10; middle cauline leaves 10.0– 23.5 cm long, 1.6–6 cm wide, alternate, lanceolate (ratio middle leaf width / middle leaf length = 0.10–0.35), acute to obtuse, usually sessile to semi-amplexicaul, sometimes attenuated into a petiole up to 3 cm long, slightly dentate to entire (teeth 0.6–0.7 mm deep), glabrous, tertiary venation inconspicuous; upper cauline leaves 1.1–6.9 cm long, 0.2–1.7 cm wide, lanceolate (ratio upper leaf width / upper leaf length = 0.10–0.25), acute, sessile, entire to slightly denticulate, glabrescent. Synflorescence 7–38 cm long, corymbose, with scarce linear-oblong bracts. Capitula (4–)5–12(–19), 35.3–56.5 mm in diam.; involucre 14.5–22.6 mm in diam., 9–15 mm long, cupuliform; involucral bracts (20–)22–24(–28), 8.2–11.5 mm long, 1.1–2.6 mm wide, with scarious margin 0.3–0.7 mm wide, subulate to lanceolate, attenuate, weakly 1–2-keeled, apex often with a black spot, glabrous; supplementary bracts (10–)13–15(–18), 3.8–7.5 mm long, 0.7–1.6 mm wide, subulate, without scarious margin, a third to three quarters as long as involucral bracts, slightly arachnoid to glabrescent, not imbricated. Ligulate florets 13–14, 17.4–39.4 mm long, yellow; tubular florets 6.9–11 mm long, 0.9–2 mm in diam., yellow. Achenes 4.2–6.6 mm long, 0.8–1.4 mm wide, subcylindrical (ratio achene width / achene length = 0.18–0.25), shorter than pappus (ratio achene length / pappus length = 0.57–0.78), with 9–13 ribs, with intercostal trichomes 0.1–0.3 mm long; pappus 6.6–9 mm long, whitish. Chromosome number: unknown. Figure 16 .

Iconography: — Hoffmannsegg & Link (1825 –1828: 308, fig. 100, sub S. grandiflorus ); Boissier (1841: fig. 98a); Malagarriga (1977: 1200).

Distribution and habitat: — S Spain and S Portugal; woods of Quercus suber Linnaeus (1753: 995) , Arbutus unedo Linnaeus (1753: 395) , Castanea sativa Miller (1768 : n.º 1), usually accompanied by Genista triacanthos Brotero (1805: 89) , Cistus populifolius Linnaeus (1753: 523) , Paeonia broteri Boissier & Reuter (1842: 4) , on siliceous soils; elevations of 110–470 m ( Figure 17 ).

Phenology: — Flowering from April to June.

SYSTEMATICS OF SENECIO SECTION CROCISERIS

Phytotaxa 211 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press • 47

Etymology: — Senecio lopezii is named in honor of Salvador López Ramos (fl. 1830–1878), canon of the cathedral of Málaga, who sent some specimens to Boissier ( González Bueno 2010).

48 • Phytotaxa 211 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press

CALVO ET AL.

Discussion: — This taxon is a robust plant with large basal leaves, several capitula grouped in a corymbose synflorescence, and the involucre with supplementary bracts shorter than involucral ones. It is usually glabrous, sometimes with scattered trichomes to slightly arachnoid on the stem and supplementary bracts. The character of the large lanceolate basal leaves is shared with S. macedonicus and S. franchetii , although their distribution ranges do not overlap. We can distinguish it from S. macedonicus by the absence of foliose synflorescence bracts and the shorter and less pubescent supplementary bracts. Senecio lopezii is easily distinguishable from S. franchetii by the higher number of supplementary bracts and because it is less pubescent.

Senecio lopezii is a species restricted to a few populations distributed in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. It is noteworthy that the only studied collection from the locus classicus ( Yunquera , Málaga Province, Spain) is the type material. Our efforts to find the species there were unsuccessful .

Selected specimens examined. PORTUGAL. Algarve: Lieux ombragés de la Serra da Picota , près Monchique, 37º18’N, 8º31’W, 28 June 1853, E . Bourgeau 1923 ( E, K); Monchique , vertiente norte, pr. foz da Maceira, 37º22’N, 8º32’W, 11 May 2010, J . Calvo 4555 ( MA); Monchique, vertiente norte, Portela de Viuva dirección Aljezur , 37º20’N, 8º35’W, 12 May 2010, J . Calvo 4560 ( MA); Serra de Monchique , estrada para Saboia , a ca. 2 km. de Monchique, 37º19’N, 8º33’W, 30 May 1979, J. V. C . Malato-Beliz & J. A . Guerra 16021 ( C, MA); Serra de Monchique, Barranco da Maceira , próx. à ribeira da Perna Negra, 37º23’N, 8º34’W, 30 May 1979, J. V. C . Malato-Beliz & J. A . Guerra 16035 ( C, MA) . SPAIN. Cádiz: San Roche, alrededores del cortijo de la Alcaidesa, 36º16’N, 5º22’W, 16 May 2009, J . Calvo 3596 ( MA); Tarifa, los Morrones , 36º9’N, 5º37’W, 16 May 2009, J . Calvo 3604 ( MA); Los Barrios, Sierra del Niño , 36º10’N, 5º35’W, 27 Apr 1983, M . Ladero et al. s.n. ( MA); San Roque, finca La Alcaidesa, Los Charcones , 36º16’N, 5º22’W, 25 Apr 1979, G . López 1006 ( MA) .

Figures

FIGURE 16. Senecio lopezii Boissier—a, b. Habit (drawn from Calvo 4555, MA).—c. Capitulum (drawn from López 1006, MA).—d. Involucral bract (drawn from López 1006, MA).—e. Supplementary bract (drawn from López 1006, MA).—f. Ligulate floret (drawn from López 1006, MA).—g. Tubular floret (drawn from López 1006, MA).—h. Achene (drawn from Calvo 3604, MA).—i. Indumentum of achene (drawn from Calvo 3604, MA).

FIGURE 17. Distribution map for Senecio lopezii Boissier (∆) and S. perralderianus Cosson (●).