Orobanche elatior and O. kochii (Orobanchaceae) in Poland: distribution, taxonomy, plant communities and seed micromorphology

Abstract

Species of the genus Orobanche (Orobanchaceae), parasitic on Centaurea in Central Europe, were previously considered to belong to the O. elatior group. At present, the taxon is differentiated into two species, O. elatior Sutton and O. kochii F.W. Schultz. The paper presents for the first time the distribution of O. elatior and O. kochii in Poland based on a critical revision of herbarium and the literature data, as well as the results of field studies conducted between 1999 and 2014. The majority of the species' localities are in south Poland: Silesia-Cracow, Małopolska and the Lublin Uplands. The distribution of both species in Poland is mapped and chronologically organized, and is thus the most recent in Europe. The taxonomy, host preferences, and ecology are also discussed. Seeds of both species were also investigated using light and scanning electron microscopy, which resulted in the designation of diagnostic features. The new color form of O. kochii f. citrina is described and illustrated. An account of all revised herbarium specimens collected from Poland, deposited in Poland and neighboring countries, is presented.

Acta Biologica Cracoviensia s. Botanica

“…Moreover, the seeds of P. bohemica are characterized by smaller and thinner cell walls and by different sculpture of the fibrilla than for P. purpurea (Piwowarczyk, 2015c). Additionally, palynological analysis also showed auxiliary micromorphological differences between these taxa (Piwowarczyk et al, 2015). Our study shows that whereas the trnL-trnF tree does not separate these species, the ITS tree shows a clear difference between P. bohemica and P. purpurea.…”

“…Seed analysis also showed a significant difference in epidermis perforation diameter, which is three times larger in O. elatior s. str. than in O. kochii (Piwowarczyk and Krajewski, 2015;Piwowarczyk, 2015c). Furthermore, seed characters, especially epidermis perforation diameter, place O. kochii closer to the species of subsections Minores and Speciosae than to those of section Curvatae (Piwowarczyk, 2015c).…”

Nowe stanowiska roślin naczyniowych Polski, 3

“…Z Wyżyny Kieleckiej znanych jest kilkanaście stanowisk gatunku, przy czym większość z nich pochodzi z początku XXI w. (np. Piwowarczyk, 2010Piwowarczyk, , 2012Piwowarczyk & Krajewski, 2015). Zaraza Kocha notowana była przede wszystkim w murawach kserotermicznych ze związku Cirsio-Brachypodion pinnati, na przydrożach, a także na brzegach pól uprawnych oraz w pobliżu kamieniołomów (Piwowarczyk, 2012).…”

Distributions of vascular plants in the Czech Republic

“…It is distributed in England, the Netherlands, southernmost Norway and Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, eastwards it reaches the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Estonia), Poland and the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Slovenia. Its eastern range limit is insufficiently known, but its occurrence has not been confirmed in Hungary, Belorussia, Ukraine or Russia (Domina & Raab-Straube 2010, Zázvorka 2010, Piwowarczyk & Krajewski 2015, Sánchez Pedraja et al 2019. In the Czech Republic it is a rare species, which probably applies also to its whole range, while O. kochii is much more frequent.…”