Odontarrhena

Cecchi, Lorenzo, Bettarini, Isabella, Colzi, Ilaria, Coppi, Andrea, Echevarria, Guillaume, Pazzagli, Luigia, Bani, Aida, Gonnelli, Cristina & Selvi, Federico, 2018, The genus Odontarrhena (Brassicaceae) in Albania: Taxonomy and Nickel accumulation in a critical group of metallophytes from a major serpentine hot-spot, Phytotaxa 351 (1), pp. 1-28 : 5

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.11646/phytotaxa.351.1.1

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E75A00-782A-F21F-FF33-FF2B3A14B13B

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Odontarrhena
status

 

Odontarrhena View in CoL C.A.Mey. ex Ledeb.

(≡) Alyssum sect. Odontarrhena (C.A.Mey. ex Ledeb.) W.D.J.Koch.

Type:— Odontarrhena microphylla Ledeb. (1830: 15) . [= O. obovata C. A.Mey. (in Ledebour & al. 1831: 61) nom. cons.].

Small chamaephytes or long-lived cespitose herbs with robust taproot, with or without sterile stems and leaf rosettes at the base. Most parts of the plants covered with stellate hairs. Inflorescence a compound corymbus, rarely reduced to a simple raceme. Sepals ovate, green with a scarious margin. Petals yellow, cuneate-spathulate. Stamens filaments with denticulate appendages. Fruit (silicles) with two seeds, one for each loculus (only occasionally two).

Literature information on breeding systems is lacking, but field observations suggest that the bright yellow flowers are visited by a wide variety of pollinating insects including bees, hover flies, flies, wasps and small beetles. Personal observations on plants cultivated for years in the botanical garden of the Florence University suggest that allogamy is the main breeding system. However, selfing is likely to occur also in some taxa/populations, similarly to some species of Alyssum s.s. ( Hegi 1986, Rusterholz et al. 2012, Cecchi et al. 2013). The seven taxa native to Albania are presented below in alphabetical order.

1. O. albiflora ( Meyer 2011: 63) Španiel, Al-Shehbaz, D. A.German & Marhold in Španiel et al. (2015: 2483). (≡) Alyssum albiflorum F.K.Mey.

Holotype:— ALBANIA. “ Pogradec , Shengjergj , Südabfall des Mali-i-Thatë, 1000–1300 m, Kalk ”, 05/07/1959, F. K. Meyer, Flora Albanica no. 3552, JE00016682 , JE!

Isotype:— JE 00016683, JE!

Flowering stems erect 10–30(40) cm, whitish for dense hairs throughout, often reddish beneath. Sterile shoots with spathulate basal leaves, 7–15 × 2–4 mm, rounded at apex, greyish on upper surface for 10- to 23-rayed, dense (but 1-layered) hairs, ca. 0.6 mm across, white-silvery on lower surface for denser, overlapping hairs of similar shape and size. Inflorescence corymbose, with secondary branching, partial racemes short, each with 10–12 fruits on erecto-patent, thick pedicels. Sepals 1.9–2.5 mm long, with ca. 10-rayed hairs, 0.3 mm across. Petals 3–3.5 mm long, external surface with sparse hairs like those on sepals. Style 1.5–2 mm, with stellate hairs in the lower part. Siliculae broadly elliptic-obovate, 3.5–4.5 × 2.3–3.5 mm; valves whitish, densely covered with 8–12-rayed, overlapping hairs 0.3 mm across. Seeds 2–2.4 × 1.3–1.5 mm, including a wing ca. 0.25 mm wide. Figs. 2 View FIGURE 2 , 3A View FIGURE 3 , 6A View FIGURE 6 , 7A View FIGURE 7 .

Phenology. Flowering from late May to mid July, fruit ripening from late June to August ( Fig. 4 View FIGURE 4 ).

Chromosome number. 2n = 32 ( Fig. 5H View FIGURE 5 ); plants from the type locality.

Distribution and ecology. This species is an extremely rare endemic only known from the type locality on the southern slope of Mt. Thatë between Pogradec and Korça ( Fig. 1 View FIGURE 1 ; Appendix 1). Here, it grows on SW-facing limestone cliffs from 900 to 1300 m.

Nickel accumulation. Over 2000 μg g-1 dw of Ni were detected in leaf samples of this species ( Table 1), despite its occurrence on limestone rocks.

Comments. This species was previously known from the single type gathering only, and the name A. albiflorum was unresolved according to The Plant List (http://www.theplantlist.org/). Our finding in the type locality (June and October 2017) allows to confirm its specific status and distinctness based on morphological and ecological characters. This is the only Albanian species in this genus that grows exclusively on calcareous rocks.

C

University of Copenhagen

A

Harvard University - Arnold Arboretum

F

Field Museum of Natural History, Botany Department

K

Royal Botanic Gardens

JE

Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

Darwin Core Archive (for parent article) View in SIBiLS Plain XML RDF