Limonium roridum
1.Limonium roridum (Sibth. & Sm.) Brullo & Guarino (2000: 267) (Fig. 14)
Basionym:-Statice rorida Sibthorp & Smith (1821: 91). Type (lectotype, designated here):-[Icon] tab. 298 (Sibthorph & Smith 1821: 91). Type (epitype, designate here):-TURKEY. Turkia, litorale di Cesme, 25 June 1987, Brullo, Pavone & Signorello (CAT!, isoepitype MSB!).
= Statice echioides Sibthorp & Smith (1806: 213) nom. illeg. non Linnaeus (1753: 275). Type:-Not designated.
= Statice hyssopifolia Girard (1844: 329) and Limonium hyssopifolium (Girard) Rechinger fil. (1943a: 427). Type (lectotype, designated here):-GREECE. Grecia, Tragonisi, Limonium graecum minimum foliis hyssopi subhirsuti, Tournef. Coroll. 25 (M!).
= Statice tournefortii Jaubert & Spach (1853: Tab. 388), nom. illeg. non Statice tournefortii Jaubert & Spach (1843: Tab. 90), nec Statice tournefortii Girard (1844: 326): Type (lectotype, designated here):-Limonium minimum, foliis hyssopi subhirsutis, ex insula Helena (P-TOURN!).
Description:-Plant perennial, glabrous, forming a sub-shrub 10-35 cm tall, with many erect stems and a robust tap-root. Caudices 2-15 cm long, densely branched and densely spirally leafy in the upper half, sometimes leaves in rosettes at apices. Leaves fleshy, rigid, glaucous, tuberculate with many crateriform glands, 10-30 mm long and 4-8 mm broad, spathulate, apex obtuse, often v-shaped in cross-section, with one central nerve, gradually tapering into the petiole. Stems 7-30 cm long, tuberculate with many crateriform glands, glaucous, conspicuously flexuous, constricted and fragile at nodes, very branched, branching begins near the base; sometimes proliferating in axils. Inflorescence obtrullate in outline. Sterile branches numerous, 0.5-5.0 cm long. Fertile branches numerous, glaucous, tuberculate with many crateriform glands, 1-6 cm long, flexuous, more or less articulate, directed obliquely upwards to spreading, forming branching angles of 40°-70°, unbranched. Spikes 10-50 mm long, arched, inserted erect to obliquely; axis of the spike with many crateriform glands. Spikelets 7.2-9.5 mm long, composed of 1-5 flowers, remotely arranged with 2-3 per cm; sometimes laterally slightly curved near the base. Outer bract 2.2-3.0 mm long and 2.2-2.6 mm broad, triangular-ovate, obtuse to rounded; bract margin broadly membranous; central part slightly fleshy, sometimes only at the base, normally tuberculate with some crateriform glands, acuminate. Middle bract membranous, 2.7-3.1 mm long and 2.0-2.5 mm broad, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, rounded. Inner bract 6.3-7.3 mm long and 4.2-5.0 mm broad, oblong-obovate, rounded, always hairy in the upper third, often glaucous; bract margin broadly membranous; central part fleshy, with many crateriform glands, 5.3-6.5 mm long and 2.3-3.6 mm broad, oblong to oblong-obovate, acuminate, forming a narrowly triangular tip, 0.7-1.0 mm long, not reaching the upper margin. Calyx 6-7 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by 1-2 mm; calyx tube sparsely to densely more or less long hairy, with 5 ribs normally hairy in the upper half, ending at the base of lobes; calyx lobes very fine, ca. 0.5 × 1.1 mm, semi-circular. Corolla pink to lilac.
Chromosome number:-2n = 43 (Artelari 1989a, Artelari & Georgiou 2003, Georgakopoulou et al. 2006;
Erben Li-1452, unpubl.).
Distribution:-Frequent in the central and southern Aegean region: Sterea Ellas, Peloponnese, islands of Amorgos, Andros, Chios, Crete, Delos, Donousa, Chrysi, Karpathos, Kythira, Kythnos, Makronisos, Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Rhineia, Serifos, Sikinos, Syros, Tinos, Tragonisi. It also occurs in western Turkey (Fig. 98A).
Habitat:-Rocky coast on various substrates and sandy soils.
Taxonomic remarks:-Limonium roridum, described by Sibthorp & Smith in 1821, was previously identified by the same authors (Sibthorp & Smith 1806) as Statice echioides L. The Limonium species is recorded in the protologue as found “in Cretae, Cypri et Meli maritimis; etiam inter Scalam novam et Smyrnam”, and is accompanied by a colour illustration (Tab. 208). After close examination of Sibthorp’s herbarium (OXF) we can confirm that there is no extant type material. Consequently, the illustration has been designated as the lectotype, and a specimen from Çesme, a coastal locality near Smyrna (today’s Izmir), has been selected as the epitype. The status of the synonym Statice hyssopifolia Girard was first confirmed by Jaubert & Spach (1853: tab. 388), who provided a faithful illustration based on the type collection of Tournefort. The figure depicts the close resemblance of the Tournefort material to the plant illustrated by Sibthorp & Smith (1821: tab. 298). The habit and hairy inner bract indicate that L. roridum is closely related to L. ammophilon, from which it principally differs by having smaller tuberculate inner bracts that are only hairy at their apices, while the other bracts are glabrous.
FIGURE 14. Limonium roridum (Sibthorp & Smith) Brullo & Guarino. A) Habit; B) Spikelet; C) Outer bract; D) Middle bract; E)
Inner bract; F) Calyx; G) Calyx lobes; H) Leaves. (Drawn from “Creta, E di Iraklion, Brullo & Pavone s.n., Herb. Erben, CAT”).
Basionym:-Statice rorida Sibthorp & Smith (1821: 91). Type (lectotype, designated here):-[Icon] tab. 298 (Sibthorph & Smith 1821: 91). Type (epitype, designate here):-TURKEY. Turkia, litorale di Cesme, 25 June 1987, Brullo, Pavone & Signorello (CAT!, isoepitype MSB!).
= Statice echioides Sibthorp & Smith (1806: 213) nom. illeg. non Linnaeus (1753: 275). Type:-Not designated.
= Statice hyssopifolia Girard (1844: 329) and Limonium hyssopifolium (Girard) Rechinger fil. (1943a: 427). Type (lectotype, designated here):-GREECE. Grecia, Tragonisi, Limonium graecum minimum foliis hyssopi subhirsuti, Tournef. Coroll. 25 (M!).
= Statice tournefortii Jaubert & Spach (1853: Tab. 388), nom. illeg. non Statice tournefortii Jaubert & Spach (1843: Tab. 90), nec Statice tournefortii Girard (1844: 326): Type (lectotype, designated here):-Limonium minimum, foliis hyssopi subhirsutis, ex insula Helena (P-TOURN!).
Description:-Plant perennial, glabrous, forming a sub-shrub 10-35 cm tall, with many erect stems and a robust tap-root. Caudices 2-15 cm long, densely branched and densely spirally leafy in the upper half, sometimes leaves in rosettes at apices. Leaves fleshy, rigid, glaucous, tuberculate with many crateriform glands, 10-30 mm long and 4-8 mm broad, spathulate, apex obtuse, often v-shaped in cross-section, with one central nerve, gradually tapering into the petiole. Stems 7-30 cm long, tuberculate with many crateriform glands, glaucous, conspicuously flexuous, constricted and fragile at nodes, very branched, branching begins near the base; sometimes proliferating in axils. Inflorescence obtrullate in outline. Sterile branches numerous, 0.5-5.0 cm long. Fertile branches numerous, glaucous, tuberculate with many crateriform glands, 1-6 cm long, flexuous, more or less articulate, directed obliquely upwards to spreading, forming branching angles of 40°-70°, unbranched. Spikes 10-50 mm long, arched, inserted erect to obliquely; axis of the spike with many crateriform glands. Spikelets 7.2-9.5 mm long, composed of 1-5 flowers, remotely arranged with 2-3 per cm; sometimes laterally slightly curved near the base. Outer bract 2.2-3.0 mm long and 2.2-2.6 mm broad, triangular-ovate, obtuse to rounded; bract margin broadly membranous; central part slightly fleshy, sometimes only at the base, normally tuberculate with some crateriform glands, acuminate. Middle bract membranous, 2.7-3.1 mm long and 2.0-2.5 mm broad, elliptic to oblong-elliptic, rounded. Inner bract 6.3-7.3 mm long and 4.2-5.0 mm broad, oblong-obovate, rounded, always hairy in the upper third, often glaucous; bract margin broadly membranous; central part fleshy, with many crateriform glands, 5.3-6.5 mm long and 2.3-3.6 mm broad, oblong to oblong-obovate, acuminate, forming a narrowly triangular tip, 0.7-1.0 mm long, not reaching the upper margin. Calyx 6-7 mm long, exceeding the inner bract by 1-2 mm; calyx tube sparsely to densely more or less long hairy, with 5 ribs normally hairy in the upper half, ending at the base of lobes; calyx lobes very fine, ca. 0.5 × 1.1 mm, semi-circular. Corolla pink to lilac.
Chromosome number:-2n = 43 (Artelari 1989a, Artelari & Georgiou 2003, Georgakopoulou et al. 2006;
Erben Li-1452, unpubl.).
Distribution:-Frequent in the central and southern Aegean region: Sterea Ellas, Peloponnese, islands of Amorgos, Andros, Chios, Crete, Delos, Donousa, Chrysi, Karpathos, Kythira, Kythnos, Makronisos, Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Rhineia, Serifos, Sikinos, Syros, Tinos, Tragonisi. It also occurs in western Turkey (Fig. 98A).
Habitat:-Rocky coast on various substrates and sandy soils.
Taxonomic remarks:-Limonium roridum, described by Sibthorp & Smith in 1821, was previously identified by the same authors (Sibthorp & Smith 1806) as Statice echioides L. The Limonium species is recorded in the protologue as found “in Cretae, Cypri et Meli maritimis; etiam inter Scalam novam et Smyrnam”, and is accompanied by a colour illustration (Tab. 208). After close examination of Sibthorp’s herbarium (OXF) we can confirm that there is no extant type material. Consequently, the illustration has been designated as the lectotype, and a specimen from Çesme, a coastal locality near Smyrna (today’s Izmir), has been selected as the epitype. The status of the synonym Statice hyssopifolia Girard was first confirmed by Jaubert & Spach (1853: tab. 388), who provided a faithful illustration based on the type collection of Tournefort. The figure depicts the close resemblance of the Tournefort material to the plant illustrated by Sibthorp & Smith (1821: tab. 298). The habit and hairy inner bract indicate that L. roridum is closely related to L. ammophilon, from which it principally differs by having smaller tuberculate inner bracts that are only hairy at their apices, while the other bracts are glabrous.
FIGURE 14. Limonium roridum (Sibthorp & Smith) Brullo & Guarino. A) Habit; B) Spikelet; C) Outer bract; D) Middle bract; E)
Inner bract; F) Calyx; G) Calyx lobes; H) Leaves. (Drawn from “Creta, E di Iraklion, Brullo & Pavone s.n., Herb. Erben, CAT”).
FIGURE 14. Limonium roridum (Sibthorp & Smith) Brullo & Guarino. A) Habit; B) Spikelet; C) Outer bract; D) Middle bract; E)
Inner bract; F) Calyx; G) Calyx lobes; H) Leaves. (Drawn from “Creta, E di Iraklion, Brullo & Pavone s.n., Herb. Erben, CAT”).
Inner bract; F) Calyx; G) Calyx lobes; H) Leaves. (Drawn from “Creta, E di Iraklion, Brullo & Pavone s.n., Herb. Erben, CAT”).