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| Senecio carniolicus (A, Almerhorn, population 58 from Sonnleitner et al. 2010), S. insubricus (B; Plose, population 46), S. noricus (C; Bretthöhe, population 80), and S. disjunctus (D; Bretthöhe, population 80). in Flatscher, García, Hülber, ... et Schönswetter, 2015. Photographs: M. Sonnleitner |
Senecio carniolicus (Asteraceae) is an intricate polyploid complex distributed in the European Alps (di-, tetra- and hexaploids) and Carpathians (hexaploids only). Molecular genetic, ecological, and crossing data allowed four evolutionary groups within S. carniolicus to be identified. Here, we establish that these four groups (two vicariant diploid lineages, tetraploids and hexaploids) are also morphologically differentiated. As a consequence, we draw taxonomic conclusions by characterizing four species, including the more narrowly circumscribed S. carniolicus (lectotypified here), the taxonomically elevated S. insubricus comb. nov. (lectotypified here), and the two newly described species S. disjunctus and S. noricus.
Keywords: Asteraceae; European Alps; polyploidy; Senecio; species nova, Austria, Eudicots
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| Representative individuals of Senecio carniolicus (A, Almerhorn, population 58 from Sonnleitner et al. 2010), S. insubricus (B; Plose, population 46), S. noricus (C; Bretthöhe, population 80), and S. disjunctus (D; Bretthöhe, population 80). Note the characteristic differences in indumentum density and leaf dissection as well as in the number of capitula per synflorescence. Photographs: M. Sonnleitner |
Etymology:—The species is named after the historical Duchy of Carniola (Herzogtum Krain, Vojvodina Kranjska)
within the Habsburg Empire, which comprised large parts of present-day Slovenia as well as southernmost Kärnten
(Carinthia) and Steiermark (Styria). It should be noted that S. carniolicus does not occur in that area (see above under
“Type”).
Senecio insubricus (Chenevard) R. Flatscher, Schneew. and Schönsw., comb. et stat. nov.
Etymology:—The species takes its epithet from a historical region in Northern Italy between Lago di Como and
Lago di Garda. The name of the region is connected to the ancient tribe of the “insubres” mentioned by several ancient
Roman authors. Chenevard first used this epithet in his description of a novel variety of S. carniolicus. He considered
this taxon a possible hybrid of S. carniolicus with the vicariant S. incanus, with a narrowly endemic distribution
confined to the Alpi Lepontine and Alpi Orobie.
Senecio noricus R. Flatscher, Schneew. and Schönsw., sp. nov.
Etymology:—The species takes its name from the province Noricum in the Ancient Roman Empire, which
comprised the current Austrian federal states Ober- and Niederösterreich, Kärnten and Steiermark as well as parts of
Tirol.
Senecio disjunctus R. Flatscher, Schneew. and Schönsw., sp. nov.
Etymology:—The epithet refers to the distribution pattern of the species, whose range is split into two disjunct
partial areas.
Ruth Flatscher, Pedro Escobar García, Karl Hülber, Michaela Sonnleitner, Manuela Winkler, Johannes Saukel, Gerald M. Schneeweiss and Peter Schönswetter. 2015. Underestimated Diversity in One of the World’s Best studied Mountain Ranges: The Polyploid Complex of Senecio carniolicus (Asteraceae) contains Four Species in the European Alps. Phytotaxa. 213(1); 1 – 21. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.213.1.1
