Three new Centaurea species for Albania

Abstract

During fieldwork in Korça district (S Albania) between 2019 and 2022, Centaurea devasiana, C. marmorea and C. thracica were collected and documented as new additions for the flora of Albania. Centaurea devasiana was collected in limestone pastures on Ivani Mt, Prespa National Park, c. 14 km distant from its locus classicus on Mt Devas, Greek Prespa. It had previously been considered a Greek endemic. Centaurea marmorea was found on the western rocky limestone slopes and pastures of Dry Mt (Mali i Thatë) above Bletas village, at 1400-1750 m. It is a Balkan endemic with a restricted distribution in North Macedonia (Prilep area) and North eastern Greece (Mts Orvilos and Falakro). The new locality in Albania extends its distribution westwards. The third species, C. thracica was observed and collected in openings of Quercus woodland in Qafa e Qarrit, a serpentine area between Korça and Kolonja municipalities. Its population comprises less than 30 mature plants. Notes on the habitat, ecology and variation in each species are provided.

Evidences of Climate Changes and Conservation Needs for Halting Further Deterioration of Small Glacial Lakes

“…subsp. pindicola, Narthecium scardicum, Pinguicula balcanica, Ranunculus degenii, Scilla albanica, Soldanella dimoniei and Soldanella pindicola, recorded in the shores and the belt around glacial lakes in Albania [36,37,54] might be considered as good indicators for the water quality and habitat integrity.…”

“…83 glacial lakes were subject of this survey. Therefore, different plant guides were used for species and habitats determination [34][35][36][37]. A five-degree scale was used to quantify the abundance of the observed and recognized macrophyte species along transects and in the deep zone of each lake: 1 represents very rare, 2 represents rare, 3 represents common, 4 represents frequent, and 5 represents abundant [38,39].…”

Material on the annotated checklist of vascular flora of Serbia: Nomenclatural, taxonomic and floristic notes V

“…It was described from S Albania in vicinity of Berat (Brullo et al 2019). It was also recorded from SE [Mt Galičica ("Mali i Thatë")], NW (Mali i Rencit near Shkodër) and N [Mt Paštrik ("Malin e Gajrepit")] Albania (Shuka et al 2021).…”

“…Examination of that herbarium material (908 E 00799901) showed that it actually refers to A. albanicum Brullo, C. Brullo, Cambria, Giusso & Salmeri. It was also recorded from Albanian part of Mt Paštrik ["Malin e Gajrepit"](Shuka et al 2021). Comments on the presence of this species in Serbia are listed on page 70.…”

Establishment of an in vitro method for micropropagation of ironwort, (Sideritis raeseri Boiss. & Heldr.)

“…Mountain tea populations have been reduced by 50 % in the Prespa area from 1990 until today, and since its population in Albania has been reduced by 30 % and destructive harvest practices of the natural population continue, it has been assessed as endangered (EN) species by the Albanian government (Shuka & Malo, 2010;MoE, 2013;Shuka et al, 2021). Furthermore, S. raeseri, with its closest relative, S. scardica, is listed as species of high conservation interest for the western Balkan countries (Aneva & Zhelev, 2018).…”