the larger islands . It is distributed in most parts of Europe , North Africa , Anatolia and the Caucasus . The species is resistant to atmospheric pollution , capable of capturing atmospheric nitrogen with rootstocks . Alnus glutinosa is a taxon characteristic of the “ 91E0 * priority habitat : Alluvial forests with Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior ”, which has its southern limit of spreading to Greece . Greece is also the southern part of the species distribution in Europe . ( K . Koutsovoulou )
March 2018 Linum arboreum L . Linum arboreum is a genuine ornament on the rocks , a very attractive shrub with bright yellow flowers and relatively early spring flowering that will definitely attract your attention . It can reach 1 meter in height although it is usually lower and caespitose . Its leaves are glabrous and thick and its few-flowered compact inflorescences appear from March to May and occasionally from January . It is usually found in rock crevices and rocky slopes with macchie and phrygana vegetation , from sea level up to 900 meters although rarely it can be found up to 1900 meters . It is distributed in Crete , the southeastern Aegean islands ( Astypalea , Kasos , Karpathos , Sharia , Rhodes , Symi , Halki ) and the Marmaris peninsula on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor . ( I . Bazos )
April 2018 Ophrys helenae Renz . Helen ’ s Bee Orchid ( Ophrys helenae Renz ) is the only Ophrys species that has no speculum on its flowers , while it is easily identified by its velvet cherry red lip , that usually has a yellowish boarder . Although the lip color and beauty are leading to the idea that the species name comes from Helen of Sparta of the antiquity , Jany Renz , who first found and described the species from Corfu in 1928 , named it after his mother , Helen Renz . Ophrys helenae is a Balkan endemic , with a center of distribution in NW Greece , currently expanding its limits east and southwards . It blooms in April and May , and can be found among shrubs and forest openings , in full sun and / or semi-shaded sites . ( M . Charitonidou )
May 2018 Juniperus drupacea Labill . Juniperus drupacea ( Syrian juniper ) is a mountainous , small or medium-sized tree ( 12-20 m ), endemic to the eastern Mediterranean area ( Israel , Lebanon , Syria and Turkey ). Its unique natural populations for Europe are found on the mountains of Peloponnisos : Parnon , Taygetos , Chionovouni , Madara and Ktenias . It is present on limestone substrata at altitudes ranging from 300 to 1,500 m . It forms pure or mixed forests with J . oxycedrus L ., Abies cephalonica Loudon or Pinus nigra J . F . Arnold subsp . nigra . J . drupacea is a tree species protect ed by the national legislation ( PD 67 / 1981 ), which is included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ( 2006 ) and its woodlands constitute a priority habitat type according to the Directive 92 / 43 / EEC . ( E . Daskalakou )
June 2018 . Paeonia mascula ( L .) Mill . subsp . hellenica Tzanoud . Paeonia mascula subsp . hellenica is a robust perennial plant , with stems reaching a height of 60 cm . Its large , impressive , cup-shaped flowers , that reach diameters up to 13 cm constitute a fine lesson for floral morphology , as one can identify macroscopically , all the individual floral parts , such as the numerous stamens with the yellow anthers and the tomentose carpels with the bright-red , circinnate stigmatic area . The flowering period lasts from April to June . It is an endemic subspecies of Greece , appearing in rocky places , forest clearings in fir and sweet chestnut woods , as well as in phrygana in Attica , Andros and Ikaria islands , the mountains of the Eastern Peloponnese and in Evvia island , where it forms large colonies . ( G . Poulis )
Katerina Koutsovoulou , Green Fund
Greek Flora New findings
Resurrection of Verbascum auriculatum , a long-disused name in Flora Graeca Sibthorpiana ( source : Phytotaxa 361 ( 2 ): 233-243 , 2018 ).
Verbascum auriculatum , a name for a species discovered during Sibthorp ’ s first expedition in the Eastern Mediterranean , had long been sunk into synonymy of V . mucronatum . Surprisingly , however , the original material of this name was found not to match V . mucronatum but V . propontideum , a very distinct species , remarkably dissimilar to V . mucronatum . V . auriculatum is lectotypified and resurrected since V . propontideum represents a younger synonym . The species is endemic to the S . E . Aegean region , whereas Sibthorp has left no indication of where and when he collected the plant . A hypothesis on the possible locus classicus and date of the original collection is presented .
Aris Zografidis , Department of Biology , University of Patras
Carthamus caeruleus L . ( Cardueae , Asteraceae ), a new record for Rodos Island , Greece ( Source Pastrikos ( 2018 ), Parnassiana Archives 6 : 11-13 ).
Carthamus caeruleus is reported as a new record for the flora of Rodos Island , Greece , based on observations in the field and photographs taken in 2015 . The species grows near a dirt road margin close to the Apolakkia dam and its population consists of c . 30 mature plants . This population appears local ; further research in the surroundings did not reveal any additional plants .
Contribution to the flora of Tilos Island ( Source Cattaneo & Grano ( 2018 ), Parnassiana Archives 6 : 41-53 ).
George Pastrikos
The aim of this work is to make a contribution to the flora of Tilos Island ( Dodecanese Islands , Greece ). The distribution patterns and endemism of its vascular flora are analyzed and the high number of endemic species has been highlighted . The discovery of Limonium sitiacum Rech . f . on Tilos has expanded the range of this species , including Tilos as the second locality in the phytogeographical region of the Eastern Aegean Islands ( EAe ). Moreover , ecological evaluations of the new endemic species Seseli halkense Cattaneo et al ., a perennial chasmophytic species found only on Chalki and Tilos , are provided in light of current research .
Cristina Cattaneo & Mauro Grano
Petrorhagia laconica ( source Trigas & al . ( 2018 ), Willdenowia 48 : 137-146 ).
Limonium sitiacum ( C . Cattaneo , M . Grano )
Based on a combination of ordination methods and discriminant analyses of 36 macromorphological characters , five species of Petrorhagia subsect . Saxifragae are recognized in Greece . According to the results , two recently collected populations from SE Peloponnisos represent a new Petrorhagia species , which is described as P . laconica . The new species is related to the widespread P . saxifraga and the Greek endemic P . graminea , but clearly distinct from both species by a combination of morphological characters .
Hypericum icaricum ( source Tan & Strid ( 2018 ), in Vladimirov & al ., Phytologia Balcanica 24 ( 1 ): 167-169 ).
This newly described Hypericum species shows morphological similarities to H . atomarium and H . cuisinii . It occurs on the islands of Ikaria , Samos and Chios , where it grows in crevices of schistose and siliceous rocks and cliffs , in stream valleys , at low to moderate altitudes up to 1000 m .
Ornithogalum insulare ( source Kypriotakis , Antaloudaki & Tzanoudakis ( 2018 ), Botanica Serbica 42 ( 1 ): 117-122 ).
Ornithogalum insulare collected from three offshore islets of Crete is described as a species new to science . The new species is related to O . pyrenaicum and O . creticum . Information regarding its chromosome number , ecology and conservation status is also provided .
Cymbalaria spetae ( Πηγή Carnicero Campmany , P . ( 2017 ), PhD Thesis , Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona ).
A new Cymbalaria species which differs from other East Mediterranean species in its longer calyx lobes , smaller and more numerous seeds per capsule and the proportionally shorter and wider spur . It grows in rock crevices of shady limestone cliffs , from 200-800 m and is a local endemic of Mt Taygetos in the Peloponnese .
Hellenic Botanical Society • University of Patras , Faculty of Biology , Division of Plant Biology , Panepistimiopolis , Rio , Achaia 26504 , Greece , pdimopoulos @ upatras . gr , Tel . + 30 2610 996777 • www . hbs . gr
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