Open AccessA new species of Centaurea (sect. Phalolepis , Compositae: Cardueae) from eastern Peloponnisos, Greece
Author(s) -
KALPOUTZAKIS E.,
CONSTANTINIDIS TH.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
botanical journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.872
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1095-8339
pISSN - 0024-4074
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2004.00344.x
Subject(s) - centaurea , sect , taxon , biology , asteraceae , chromosome number , botany , summit , eudicots , taxonomy (biology) , ecology , chromosome , geography , karyotype , physical geography , biochemistry , gene
A new species of Centaurea L. , Centaurea leonidia Kalpoutz. & Constantin. , from two localities west and south‐west of the town of Leonidio in eastern Peloponnisos, Greece, is described and illustrated. It belongs to C . sect. Phalolepis , and taxonomically its closest relatives are C. heldreichii Halácsy , a very localized species from south‐west Sterea Ellas (Greece) and, surprisingly, C. niederi Heldr., which belongs to sect. Acrolophus. The new species is currently known from two populations of less than 100 individuals each, growing on almost inaccessible cliffs close to the convent of Agios Nikolaos Sintzas (St. Nicolas of Sintza) and the slopes of Poundes summit. Several other Greek endemic species are found in the same areas. Centaurea leonidia is scientifically important as it belongs to a small group of taxa, which, although they are members of sect. Phalolepis , have close allies in sect. Acrolophus. The chromosome number of C. leonidia , 2 n = 18, counted in root tips, is also reported and illustrated. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 146 , 375–383.