Brassica tardarae (Brassicaceae), a New Species from a Noteworthy Biotope of South-Western Sicily (Italy)

Abstract

A new species of Brassica sect. Brassica is described here from Sicily (Italy), which is known to be one of the centers of the diversification of wild taxa of this group. The new species (named Brassica tardarae) is restricted to the carbonate cliffs in the Tardara Gorges between Menfi and Sambuca di Sicilia (Agrigento province), an area with a peculiar geological history and where another strictly endemic species was recently described. The morphological relationships between the new species and other similar taxa are discussed, and an analytical key to the Sicilian taxa belonging to the genus Brassica sect. Brassica is also provided.

Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) Threatened and Endemic to Italy: Urgent Actions for Protection and Use

“…It is also true that Sicily has a greater extension of cultivated environments in relation to Sardinia and is one of the main centers of the diversification of wild taxa of the Brassica sect. Brassica in the Mediterranean basin favors the crossing with the cultivated species [ 21 , 38 , 39 ].…”

“…In Italy, 24 taxa of genus Brassica are reported [ 18 , 21 ], 13 of which are regional endemisms, 9 endemic to Sicily and 3 to different regions: B. baldensis to Veneto, B. glabrescens to Friuli-Venezia Giulia, B. tyrrhena to Sardinia. Only B. rupestris subsp.…”

“…B. tardarae is a puntiform endemic of south-western Sicily, located at “Gole della Tardara”, a few kilometers north–northwest from the town of Sciacca (province of Agrigento) [ 21 ]. This taxon is almost similar to B. rupestris and B. villosa subsp.…”

“…Overall, 29 threatened Italian endemic [ 18 ] CWRs were identified, including three species recently described [ 19 , 20 , 21 ], and therefore not included in the RIBES list, but were evaluated to test new species in view of future work. According to Peruzzi et al [ 22 ], for Italian endemic taxa, we refer to taxa occurring only in Italy, or in Italy and Corsica (France), or Italy and Malta.…”

“…The endemic taxa are those reported in Annex I of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) at genus level [ 17 ] and mentioned by the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) for cultivated areas and yield between 2019 and 2021 [ 26 ], included in the national and international Red Lists, both at Italian and European level [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ], or in other specific works [ 19 , 20 , 21 ], taxa reported by the Bern Convention [ 33 ], and by the Annexes to the 92/43/EEC Directive [ 34 ] ( Table 1 ).…”