PHYTOLOGIA BALCANICA, 28(2): 249-279, Sofia, 2022
Asteraceae
84. Centaurea kofinasii Kit Tan, sp. nov. (Fig. 17
).
[Centaurea sect. Acrolophus (Cass.)
DC.]
Gr Nomos
& Eparchia Kozanis: Stena Porta, N
of the
village of Polirrahon on road to Servia, vertical
limestone
rocks by roadside, 512 m, 40°09’N,
21°57’E,
25.06.2022, Kofinas s.n. (holotype ATH,
isotype
C); loc. ibid., 509‒512 m,
06.08.2019,
20.08.2020,
16.07.2021, 20.08.2021 & 09.07.2022,
Kofinas obs.
(several photos).
Non-spiny
perennial herb, slightly woody at base.
Stem
erect-ascending, moderately branched, 30‒40
cm tall.
Sterile leaf rosettes greyish-green. Lower
cauline
leaves 1‒2-pinnatisect,
5‒10 cm
long, midgreen,
whitish-tomentose
and arachnoid-lanate on
both
surfaces; terminal segment scarcely longer than
the
laterals; segments linear, ca. 1 mm wide, mucronulate-
apiculate.
Capitula solitary. Involucre ovoid,
13‒15 × 5‒8 mm at
anthesis excluding spines. Middle
involucral
bracts with distinct brown or brownish-
black,
pectinate-fimbriate appendage decurrent
on the
bract; apical spine erect, 1‒1.25 mm, slightly
shorter
than the 1‒1.5 mm
lateral fimbriae. Fimbriae
6‒7-paired,
white, without hyaline auricles at base.
Outer
florets pinkish-purple. Achenes }
compressed,
body ca. 3 mm
long, smooth, blackish-green. Pappus
persistent;
setae smooth, glabrous, white, 2‒2.5 mm,
mostly
shorter than, rarely equalling, body of achene.
Flowering
and fruiting June to July.
Unusual in
its combination of very narrowly linear,
white-tomentose
and arachnoid-lanate leaf segments,
small
ovoid capitula, morphology of involucral bracts
and
achenes. The slender leaf segments are reminiscent
of the
endemic C.
kalambakensis Freyn & Sint.
described
from Theopetra, southeast of Kalambaka
(Nomos
Trikalon, Eparchia Kalambakas) which has
however,
paler brown appendages with ca. 3 mm apical spine, pappus 3.5‒4.5 mm, longer than the ca. 2.5
mm body of achene, and pinkish-purple or white
florets
(Fig. 18). The population size was noted to be
rather
small, comprising 15‒20 individuals, both in juvenile
and mature flowering state, inhabiting
calcareous rock
crevices at a height of one to three metres up
the vertical
slope. Some rare and interesting plants found in
the
vicinity include the Greek endemic Dianthus stamatiadae
and the Balkan endemics Achillea ageratifolia subsp.ageratifolia, Campanula formanekiana and Stachys horvaticii (syn. S. iva auct. fl. graec. non S. iva Griseb.). Named after its collector, Giannis Kofinas, an
intrepid
and active explorer of nature, mountain climber,
expert abseiler and speleologist, who has sent
to Kit
Tan many plants for identification including
some
surprising novelties.
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