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Ecology, chorology and commonness of the Trifolium taxa in Greece
Author(s) -
Fotiadis G.,
Vrahnakis M. S.,
Merou Th.,
Vidakis K.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
feddes repertorium
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.24
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1522-239X
pISSN - 0014-8962
DOI - 10.1002/fedr.200911129
Subject(s) - subgenus , taxon , floristics , chorology , genus , ecology , biology , mediterranean climate , subspecies , geography , botany , endemism
The taxa of the genus Trifolium L. are considered valuable genetic plant resources worldwide. The study of their chorological and floristic characteristics is of great importance. This paper aims at evaluating the taxa of the genus found in the flora of Greece in terms of their ecological, chorological and commonness characteristics. A floristic catalogue was produced based on published, but not genus‐specific, floristic data collected at various parts of the country and field surveys carried out by the authors in years 2004 and 2005. Information on the localities of the taxa, either found in the field surveys or scattered into floristic reports, was gathered. The present analysis was based on several research results and bibliographic information. It was found that the Greek flora contains 113 taxa (95 species, 17 subspecies, one hybrid) out of a total of approximately 255 species reported worldwide; six of them being Greek endemics. The taxa are distributed into two subgenera of the genus; subgenus Chronosemium including 14 species and subgenus Trifolium that includes 98 taxa (without counting one hybrid) distributed in five out of eight sections: Trifolium (56), Vesicaria (18), Trifoliastrum (15), Trichocephalum (7) and Paramesus (2). The majority of the taxa are mediterranean elements (38%), annuals (76%), therophytes (76%), and of scapose growth type (78%). It was also found that the centre of distribution of Trifolium is located in Anatolia (Turkey) and Greece, so pointing out this part of east Mediterranean as an important “gene‐pool” region. The most common Trifolium species in Greece are T. repens , T. campestre , T. fragiferum , T. physodes and T. arvense (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)