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Taxonomy of Scilla albanica Turrill (Asparagaceae)

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Abstract

We aimed to clarify the taxonomic position of the poorly known Scilla albanica, described Albania ca 80 years ago in which completely fell into oblivion because of the lack of any confirming records of the taxon. Morphological, cytological and ecological comparisons with supposedly related taxa are presented based on collected living and herbarium material, on type material, and by using previously published results. Our studies concluded that S. albanica is a distinct species with remarkable morphological differences with regards to related taxa. The chromosome number of S. albanica is 2n  =  20. Unlike related taxa, all occurring on limestone, S. albanica is restricted to serpentine bedrock in northeastern Albania, without any known occurrences on other substrates and with a very limited distribution range, but showing large population sizes and occurring in a wide range of habitats. According to our results, four species previously assigned to the Scilla litardierei complex can be distinguished in the Balkan Peninsula: Scilla albanica, S. lakusicii, S. litardierei and S. messeniaca.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Gino Luka (Firenze, Italy) for his help in resolving Albanian toponyms, Francis Lagarde (France), Jean-Paul Mandin (France), Jonathan Bisson (Villenave, France) and Bohumil Trávniček (Olomouc, Czech Republic) for their help in acquiring literature sources, Balázs Pintér (Budapest, Hungary), and Maria Jug-Dujaković (Split, Croatia) for their help during field works, Franz Speta (Linz) for sharing his experiences about Scilla albanica, and our reviewers for their valuable comments. This research was supported by the OTKA K104443 grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, P. O. Box. 222, 1476, Hungary

    Zoltán Barina & Dániel Pifkó

  2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Shkodra “Luigj Gurakuqi”, Sheshi “2 Prilli”, Shkodër, Albania

    Marash Rakaj

  3. Department of Botany and Soroksár Botanical Garden, Corvinus University of Budapest, Villányi út 29-43, 1118, Budapest, Hungary

    Sándor Barabás

Authors
  1. Zoltán Barina
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  2. Dániel Pifkó
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  4. Sándor Barabás
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Correspondence to Zoltán Barina.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

List of localities of Scilla albanica

District of Bulqizë (Rrethi i Bulqizës), Mali i Ciorës S of town Bulqizë; in rocky grassland, on serpentine, 41.4565°N, 20.2211°E, 25.04.2012, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér, coll. No.: 20175a

District of Bulqizë (Rrethi i Bulqizës), Mali i Kreshtës; ca 3.0 km northwest of village Vajkal Bulqizë, on the southern slope of mount of height 2,031 m, ca 600 m west-southwest of the peak; in pine forest, on serpentine, 41.53381°N, 20.19385°E, 30.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér, coll. No. 13691

District of Bulqizë (Rrethi i Bulqizës); Lopës Mts (Mali i Lopës), ca 2.0 km south of town Bulqizë, towards lake ‘Liqeni i Zi’, on the northern slope of Mt Dozgi (2,019.4 m); in grassland, on serpentine, 41.4747°N, 20.23562°E, 24.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér

District of Bulqizë (Rrethi i Bulqizës); Lopës Mts (Mali i Lopës), ca 2.0 km southeast of town Bulqizë, towards lake ‘Liqeni i Zi’, on the northwestern slope of the 1966.7 m high mount; in pine forest, on serpentine, 41.4812°N, 20.24539°E, 24.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér, coll. No. 13420

District of Bulqizë (Rrethi i Bulqizës); Lopës Mts (Mali i Lopës), ca 2.8 km southeast of town Bulqizë, towards lake ‘Liqeni i Zi’, on the northeastern ridge of Mt Dozgi (2,019.4 m), ca 800 m east-northeast of the peak; in flush, on serpentine, 41,47136°N, 20.24611°E, 24.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér

District of Bulqizë (Rrethi i Bulqizës); Lopës Mts (Mali i Lopës), ca 3.9 km south of town Bulqizë, on the southern slope of Mt ‘Maja e Shinit’ (1,849.8 m); in open grassland, on serpentine, 41.45654°N, 20,22111°E, 26.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér, coll. No. 13485

District of Bulqizë (Rrethi i Bulqizës); Lopës Mts (Mali i Lopës), ca 5.2 km southeast of town Bulqizë, on the southeastern slope of Mt Lenë (1,980.4 m); in dry grassland, on serpentine, 41.46202°N, 20.27418°E, 25.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér

District of Bulqizë (Rrethi i Bulqizës); Lopës Mts (Mali i Lopës), ca 5.9 km southeast of town Bulqizë, on the southeastern part of Mt Lenë (1980.4 m); in open grassland, on serpentine, 41.45931°N, 20,2814°E, 25.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér, coll. No. 13456

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), Fusha e Neshta Lura, above village Fushë Lurë, in lake Liqeni i Hotit, under water, 41.76524°N, 20.18969°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), Mali i Kreshtës; ‘Liqenet e Balgjajit’, north of pass ‘qafa e Allamanit’ (1,974 m), near lake ‘Liqeni i Zi i Kosnice’, ca 7.6 km north of village Vajkal Bulqizë; in rocky grassland, on serpentine, 41,57875°N, 20,21493°E, 31.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér, coll. No.: 13724

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), Mali i Kreshtës; between pass ‘Kloxhet’ and pass ‘qafa e Allamanit’ (1,974 m), ca 5.8 km north of village Vajkal Bulqizë; in flush, on serpentine, 41.5626°N, 20.22342°E, 31.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), Mali i Kreshtës; Fusha e Kaliut, on the southern slope Mt ‘Gurët e Zi’ (2,100.9 m), ca 3.5 km north of village Vajkal Bulqizë; in grassland, on serpentine, 41.54274°N, 20.21056°E, 31.05.2008, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, B. Pintér

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), Mt Kunora e Lurës, above lake Liqeni i Madhe; on serpentine rocks, 41,78464°N, 20,18769°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No.: 22493

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), Mt Kunora e Lurës, above lake Liqeni i Madhe; on serpentine rocks, 41.78563°N, 20.18565°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No. 22497

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), near the peak of Mt Kunora e Lurës, above lake Liqeni i Madhe; on serpentine rocks, 41.78087°N, 20.18076°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No. 22502

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), near the peak of Mt Kunora e Lurës, above lake Liqeni i Madhe; on serpentine rocks, 41.78519°N, 20.18185°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), near the peak of Mt Kunora e Lurës, above lake Liqeni i Madhe; on serpentine rocks, 41.78245°N, 20.17974°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), on Mt Kunora e Lurës between lake Liqeni i Madhe and the peak; in Pinus heldreichii forest, on serpentine, 41.78521°N, 20.19092°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No.: 22492

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), on Mt Kunora e Lurës between village Fushë Lurë and lake Liqeni i Madhe; along a stream, 41.80248°N, 20.20664°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No. 22470

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), on Mt Kunora e Lurës between village Fushë Lurë and lake Liqeni i Madhe; in flush, 41.79894°N, 20.20296°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No.: 22478

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), on Mt Kunora e Lurës between village Fushë Lurë and lake Liqeni i Madhe; in flush, 41.79547°N, 20.19977°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No.: 22482

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), on Mt Kunora e Lurës between village Fushë Lurë and lake Liqeni i Madhe; in flush, 41.79431°N, 20.19832°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No.: 22486

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), on Mt Kunora e Lurës between village Fushë Lurë and lake Liqeni i Madhe; in pine forest clearing, on serpentine, 41.79334°N, 20.19656°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No.: 22489

District of Dibër (Rrethi i Dibrës), S of peak Mt Kunora e Lurës, near peak of height 2089 m; on serpentine rocks, 41.77572°N, 20.18333°E, 20.06.2013, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó

District of Mat (Rreth i Matit); Parku Kombëtar Zall Gjoçaj, at the eastern foot of Mali i Dejës; in pine forest, on serpentine, 41.69192°N, 20.18796°E, 25.06.2012, leg.: Z. Barina

District of Mat (Rreth i Matit); Parku Kombëtar Zall Gjoçaj, at the eastern foot of Mali i Dejës; in rocky grassland, on serpentine, 41.68966°N, 20.18179°E, 25.06.2012, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, G. Lunk, coll. No. 21626

District of Mat (Rrethi i Matit); ca 6 km N of village Qafë-Murrë, between Mts Dejë and Mts Lajë, S of Lurë; in serpentine grassland, 41.6871°N, 20.20088°E, 19.05.2010, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó, coll. No. 16984

District of Mat (Rrethi i Matit); ca 6 km N of village Qafë-Murrë, between Mts Dejë and Mts. Lajë, S of Lurë; in serpentine grassland, 41.69101°N, 20.19433°E, 19.05.2010, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó

District of Mat (Rrethi i Matit); ca 6 km N of village Qafë-Murrë, between Mts Dejë and Mts Lajë, S of Lurë; in serpentine grassland, 41.69304°N, 20.20299°E, 19.05.2010, leg.: Z. Barina, D. Pifkó

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Barina, Z., Pifkó, D., Rakaj, M. et al. Taxonomy of Scilla albanica Turrill (Asparagaceae). Folia Geobot 50, 151–159 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-015-9206-z

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