Limonium damboldtianum Phitos & Artelari (1981: 18)

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

29. Limonium damboldtianum Phitos & Artelari (1981: 18) ( Fig. 29 )

Type:― GREECE. Ionian Islands: Ins. Kephallinia: in ditione boreali pagi Assos ; in rupestribus calcareis ad mare praeruptis, 11 July 1971, Phitos 11439 (holotype UPA) .

Description: —Plant perennial, densely pubescent, forming a sub-shrub 15–35 cm tall, with ascending to erect stems and a robust tap-root. Caudices 3–10 cm long, branched, living leaves in rosettes at apices. Leaves fleshy,

pubescent, rigid, 20–60 mm long and 2–9 mm broad, narrowly oblanceolate-spathulate, apex obtuse to rounded, margin revolute, with one central nerve, gradually tapering into the petiole. Stems pubescent, 8–30 cm long,

LIMONIUM (PLUMBAGINACEAE)

Phytotaxa 240 (1) © 2016 Magnolia Press • 79 slendes, articulate, fragile at the nodes, more or less flexuous, rugose, branching frequently begins near the base. Inflorescence corymbose. Sterile branches numerous, confined to the lower two thirds of the stem, 0.5–5 cm long, pubescent, articulate, straight to arched, mostly branched. Fertile branches 2–5 cm long, pubescent, articulate, slightly arched to straight, mostly reflexed, forming branching angles of 90°–120°, branched. Spikes 5–35 mm long, straight to arched, inserted reflexed to obliquely upwards; axes of the spikes pubescent. Spikelets 6.5–7.5 mm long, composed of 1–2 flowers, remotely arranged with 3–4 per cm; often solitary at the top of branches. Outer bract 1.0– 1.5 mm long and 1.6–2.0 mm broad, broadly triangular-ovate, acute; bract margin narrowly membranous; central part fleshy, with some short hairs near the base, acuminate. Middle bract membranous, 1.9–2.2 mm long and 1.6–1.9 mm broad, elliptic to obovate-elliptic, rounded to obtuse. Inner bract 4.0– 4.4 mm long and 2.7–3.3 mm broad, elliptic, broadly acute; bract margin narrowly membranous; central part fleshy, 3.0– 3.4 mm long and 1.6–2.2 mm broad, oblong, acuminate, forming a narrowly triangular tip, 0.7–0.8 mm long, not reaching the upper margin. Calyx 5.4–6.2 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by 2–3 mm; calyx tube more or less sparsely long hairy, with 5 hairy ribs ending above the base of lobes; calyx lobes ca. 0.7 × 1.0 mm, broadly semi-elliptic. Corolla violet.

Chromosome number: —2n = 18 (Artelari 1984a, b).

Distribution: —Endemic to the North-West part of Kefalonia ( Fig. 88F ).

Habitat: —Calcareous cliffs near the sea.

Taxonomic remarks: —The densely pubescent leaves and stems suggest that L. damboldtianum could be related to the Croatian species L. cancellatum . However, L. damboldtianum differs from the latter in numerous morphological characters. It also shares traits with L. cephalonicum , but the latter is nearly glabrous and has many stems, narrower branching angles and sometimes spikelets solitary arranged at the ends of the branches.

Specimen examined: — GREECE. Ionian Islands: Kefalonia: Ins. Kephallinia: ad sinum Grammatikou, prope pagum Assos , in saxosis calcareis maritimis, 9 October 1982, R. Artelari 378 (Herb. Erben) .

Figures

FIGURE 29. Limonium damboldtianum Phitos & Artelari. A) Habit; B) Spikelet; C) Outer bract; D) Middle bract; E) Inner bract; F) Calyx; G) Calyx lobes; H) Leaf. (Drawn from “R. Artelari 378, 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).