Centaurea zlatiborensis (Asteraceae, Cardueae−Centaureinae), a new endemic species from Zlatibor mountain range, Serbia

Abstract

A new species of Centaurea sect. Acrocentron (Cass.) DC. (Asteraceae) found growing in dry, steppe‐like habitats on the Zlatibor mountain in western Serbia is described as Centaurea zlatiborensis. This novelity is compared with all other species of C. sect. Acrocentron known from Serbia and a diagnistic key to these is provided. Centaurea zlatiborensis is morphologically close to C. calocephala Willd. but the stems are simple or sparsely branched with monocephalous branches and itis generally smaller in all plant parts. The most important difference is the appendage morphology where C. zlatiborenis has triangular, dark brown appendages with short fimbriae and appendages not completely covering the bracts.

Molecular Insights into the Centaurea Calocephala Complex (Compositae) from the Balkans—Does Phylogeny Match Systematics?

“…mdpi.com/article/10.3390/d14050394/s1, Table S1: General chorological and ecological characteristics of analyzed representatives of Centaurea calocephala complex from the Balkans. Table S2: List of investigated species, origin of the plant materials, with voucher numbers of herbarium specimens, chromosome numbers, and GenBank accession numbers [42,43,48,49,51,86,[102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113].…”

“…The question of whether molecular methods may clarify the origin of hybrid taxa is exemplified in C. zlatiborensis. Morphology suggests that C. zlatiborensis is closely related to C. calocephala [47,48]. Both networks place clones of C. zlatiborensis in different positions: one clone is always placed close to C. grbavacensis and the other among the C. calocephala clones (Figures 5 and 6).…”

“…One of them is the Centaurea calocephala complex from the Balkans. Species from the Centaurea calocephala complex are characterized by large, showy capitula, and coriaceous, ovate to oblong involucral bracts with large, shortly decurrent appendages usually covering the bracts; mucronulate to shortly spinose at apex; yellow, brown, or black in the central part; and fimbriate at margins [47,48]. The typical species of this complex are All species are morphologically well defined (Figures 1 and 2), and although their geographical distribution is partly overlapping in the big picture, populations generally have an allopatric distribution.…”

Taxonomic notes on Centaurea pseudoscabiosa (Asteraceae, Cardueae–Centaureinae) from Iran

“…; Novaković et al. ). The species of this section distinguished from members of other sections within Centaurea by relatively large involucres, decurrent appendages ending to a robust spine and dimorphic achenes (Font et al.…”