[Botany • 2026] Solenopsis sphaciotica (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae) • A New Species from Crete

Solenopsis sphaciotica Cambria, Giusso, Miniss. & Brullo,

in Cambria, Giusso Del Galdo, Minissale, Siracusa et Brullo, 2026. 

DOI: doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.271.175650

Abstract

A new species of Solenopsis (Campanulaceae), S. sphaciotica, is described and illustrated from Crete, Greece. Morphologically, it shows close affinities with S. gutermannii by having a small size, annual habit and rosulate leaves. Although it was previously confused with S. minuta due to similarities in habit and some flower traits, several relevant morphological features clearly distinguish it from the latter. Furthermore, while it shares the annual life form, rosulate leaves and corolla shape with S. antiphonitis, it is also well differentiated from that species. This study provides a comprehensive examination of the species’ morphology, seed coat and pollen micro-sculpturing, ecology, distribution, conservation status and taxonomic relationships.

Key words: Lobelioideae, Mediterranean region, morphology, pollen, seed testa, Solenopsis, taxonomy

Phenological features of Solenopsis sphaciotica.
A. Natural habitat (Crete); B, C. Habit; D. Flower (frontal view).

 Photos by S. Cambria.

Solenopsis sphaciotica Cambria, Giusso, Miniss. & Brullo, sp. nov.

  

Diagnosis. The new species is similar to Solenopsis minuta in having rosulate leaves, bracteole indumentum and corolla colour; however, it differs in having a much reduced annual habit with smaller morphological characters throughout, a more reduced leaf rosette, leaves without margin glands, smaller bracteoles, shorter calyx (1.1–2 mm long), paler and much smaller corolla (4–5 mm), up to 0.12 mm long papillae, occurring only at the base of the lower lip, shorter anther tube, staminal filament and style and smaller capsule and seeds.

Etymology. The specific epithet, sphaciotica, refers to Hora Sfakion, the locality where the new species grows.

 Salvatore Cambria, Gianpietro Giusso Del Galdo, Pietro Minissale, Giuseppe Siracusa and Salvatore Brullo. 2026. Solenopsis sphaciotica (Campanulaceae) A New Species from Crete. PhytoKeys. 271: 259-272.  DOI: doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.271.175650 [12 Mar 2026]

[Botany • 2026] Mentha deleoi (Lamiaceae) • A New Species from Sicily

Mentha deleoi Raimondo,   

in Raimondo, 2026.

DOI: doi.org/10.3390/plants15040563 

Abstract

Mentha deleoi is described from Isola Grande, an islet in the Stagnone of Marsala (Trapani, NW Sicily), included within the homonymous Regional Oriented Nature Reserve. It is a perennial herb with an ephemeral annual cycle; in several morphological characters, it shows affinity with M. pulegium, a Eurimediterranean hemicryptophyte widely distributed in Sicily from coastal areas to high mountain habitats. Diagnostic and differential characters are provided, together with analyses of the biology, ecology, and chemistry of this new Sicilian endemic species. Owing to its extremely restricted distribution, small population size, and the potential impacts affecting the islet and its fragile habitat, resulting from centuries saliculture, a conservation plan is proposed, aimed at both in situ and ex situ protection. 

Keywords: Mediterranean flora; taxonomy; endemism; Sicily; biodiversity conservation; economic valorization 

Mentha deleoi in flowering: 

(a–c) in the spring; (d,e) in the summer; (e,f) plants with white flowers.

Mentha deleoi Raimondo sp. nov. 

Diagnosis: Species herbacea perennis, ciclo effimero, omnibus organis aeriis dense villosa. Differt a Mentha pulegium L. foliis ovatis ad oblongis, plerumque convolutis; scapis floriferis erectis vel decumbentibus-ascendentibus, in plantis maiore magnitudine longioribus; verticillasteribus numerosis, densis, contiguis et globosis; floribus plerumque lilacinis, rarius albis.

Etymology: The name of the new species commemorates Prof. Antonino De Leo (1905–1971), chemist and phytologist, and Professor of Systematic Botany at the University of Palermo. On 3 July 1971—just days after graduating in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Palermo—Prof. De Leo appointed the author as Curator of the Botanical Garden, introducing him to environmental and applied botany, which he pursued continuously for over fifty years. He was among the first researchers in Italy to initiate applied studies on the biology and chemistry of tropical and subtropical plants introduced and cultivated at the Botanical Garden, fields that he directed from 1968 until his untimely death in November 1971.

 Francesco Maria Raimondo. 2026. Mentha deleoi (Lamiaceae): A New Species from Sicily. Plants. 15(4); 563. DOI: doi.org/10.3390/plants15040563 [11 February 2026]

[Botany • 2025] Sideritis carpetana (Lamiaceae) • A New high-mountain Mediterranean Species from the marble outcrops of the Sierra de Guadarrama (Central System, Madrid, Segovia, Spain)

Sideritis carpetana  Izquierdo & Gavilán,

in Izquierdo, Ugarte, Gutiérrez-Girón, Castro, Núñez et Gavilán, 2025. 

 DOI: doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.251.129982 

Abstract

A new species of Sideritis (Sideritis carpetana) is described from the calcareous, high-mountain Spanish flora in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula. It is found in a Mediterranean climate at high-elevation, perennial, calcareous grasslands, as well as in marble screes of anthropogenic origin in the Sierra de Guadarrama, Central System (Spain), in a reserve area within the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park, at 1996 m asl. Taxonomic morphological measurements were performed on collected specimens from Sierra de Guadarrama as well as on geographically-adjacent Sideritis (i.e., S. glacialis, S. pungens, S. hyssopifolia). The relationships among them were then explored with multivariate analysis. Sideritis carpetana is a dwarf shrub with an erect or decumbent habit, growing up to 15 cm; non-woody twigs with long hairs of 3–4 cells, leaves are entire, linear-oblanceolate, sparsely covered with trichomes; inflorescence is spiciform or slightly verticillated, flowers are yellow and nutlets ovoid. A key is supplied to help distinguish it from other high-mountain Iberian species included in section Sideritis. The species is unique in its combination of morphological and autoecological characters. S. carpetana shares similarities with S. glacialis, a species from Sierra Nevada, and its northern Mediterranean variant, S. glacialis subsp. fontqueriana from Sierra de Gúdar. They share morphological characters that are absent in other high-mountain Sideritis, reinforcing their Mediterranean character, as opposed to a more temperate or submediterranean character, such as those of the hyssopifolia group.

Key words: Calcareous high-mountain grasslands, Carpetan Mountains, high mountain species, marble outcrops, Mediterranean area, Sideritis sect. Sideritis, Sideritis subsect. Fruticulosa

Sideritis carpetana natural habit in the marble anthropogenic outcrops of La Flecha Pass (Sierra de Guadarrama National Park).

Sideritis carpetana, Sierra de Guadarrama, La Flecha Pass (1996 m asl)
a habit b Lower branches c inflorescence detail showing lower verticillaster bract and calyx d inflorescence detail showing upper verticillaster bract.

 Sideritis carpetana Izquierdo & Gavilán, sp. nov.

Jose Luis Izquierdo, Rosina Magaña Ugarte, Alba Gutiérrez-Girón, Concepción Obón de Castro, Diego Rivera Núñez and Rosario G. Gavilán. 2025. Sideritis carpetana (Labiatae), A New high-mountain Mediterranean Species from the marble outcrops of the Sierra de Guadarrama (Central System, Madrid, Segovia, Spain). PhytoKeys. 251: 143-159. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.251.129982 

[Entomology • 2025] Chillcottomyia ovaticornis • Chillcottomyia Saigusa (Diptera: Empidoidea: Hybotidae) new to Europe

 

Chillcottomyia ovaticornis

 Sinclair, Andrade & Gonçalves, 2025

DOI: doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.9.165936

Abstract

A new species of Chillcottomyia Saigusa, 1986 is described from Portugal, C. ovaticornis sp. nov. This species represents the first record of Chillcottomyia from Europe.

Key Words: Dance flies, Hybotinae, new genus record, new species

Chillcottomyia ovaticornis sp. nov.
3. Male holotype, lateral habitus (prior to genitalia dissection); 4. Female paratype, lateral habitus; 5. Female paratype, head and thorax, oblique lateral view; 6. Female paratype, head and thorax, dorsal view; 7. Male holotype (prior to genitalia dissection), abdomen and terminalia, lateral view. Scale bars: 0.75 mm (3, 4); 0.5 mm (5, 6); 0.25 mm (7).

Chillcottomyia ovaticornis sp. nov.

 

Etymology. The species name is derived from the Latin ovatus (egg-shaped) and cornu (horn), in reference to the ovate-shaped postpedicel.

Diagnosis. This small species is distinguished from all other species of the genus, except an un-named species from Morocco by the ovate-shaped postpedicel. The male terminalia is similar to the type species, characterized by left epandrial lamella with subapical dorsal row of stout, stiff setae; right epandrial lamella with outer row of long, stiff setae and inner row of shorter, stout, stiff setae. Male with single, very long anterodorsal seta on mid tibia, female with pair of anterodorsal setae.

Bradley J. Sinclair, Rui Andrade, Ana Rita Gonçalves. 2025. Chillcottomyia Saigusa new to Europe (Diptera, Empidoidea, Hybotidae). Evolutionary Systematics 9(2): 167-172. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.9.165936

[Mollusca • 2025] Pararosa vigarae • The Accordion Worm: A New Genus and Species of heteronemertean (Nemertea: Pilidiophora) from Galicia (Spain)

  

Pararosa vigarae  Junoy & Verdes, 

in Verdes, Gracia-Sancha, Pérez-Dieste, Conejero, Campos, Leiva, Taboada, Riesgo et Junoy, 2025.

Accordion worm | gusano acordeón  ||  DOI: doi.org/10.1098/rsos.250313

Abstract

Ribbon worms (Nemertea) are a less-known group of invertebrates, specially challenging for taxonomic studies due to the scarcity of external morphological features. As a consequence, the number of known nemertean species might represent just a small fraction of the true diversity of the phylum. The present study increases the number of known ribbon worm species with the description of the accordion worm Pararosa vigarae sp. nov., a new genus and species of Heternonemertea from the northwest coast of Spain. We performed molecular phylogenetic analyses based on partial sequences of 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and histone H3 gene markers that indicated the newly identified specimens represent a new genus and species of heteronemertean in the family Lineidae. We also provide morphological data and images illustrating its unique behaviour, contracting its body into a series of rings similar to an accordion. Our results increase our knowledge on the diversity of an important but often overlooked invertebrate phylum and emphasize the need to combine morphological and molecular data to discover new ribbon worm species and better evaluate the true diversity of the phylum.

Keywords: accordion worm, Heteronemertea, Lineidae, Nemertea, Pararosa vigarae, ribbon worm

 

 Live images of Pararosa vigarae sp. nov.
 (A) Dorso-lateral view of head, showing cephalic slits; (B) anterior end, dorso-lateral view, showing detail of head tip; (C) ventral view of head, the mouth appears as a whitish middle line just behind the cephalic slits; (D) complete specimen with contracted body, showing epidermal rings; (E) dorsal view of complete specimen in a relaxed state, showing epidermal rings.

PILIDIOPHORA Thollesson and Norenburg, 2003

Class HETERONEMERTEA Coe (1901)

Family LINEIDAE McIntosh, 1874

Genus Pararosa gen. nov.

Diagnosis. Heteronemertean with a single pair of horizontal lateral cephalic slits which posteriorly form deep intramuscular canals; proboscis simple, unbranched; nervous system without neurochord or neurochord cells; dermis thick, glandular region separated from body wall muscles by well-developed connective tissue layer; blood system with cephalic lacunae; frontal sensory organs consisting of three simple ciliated pits located at the tip of the head; eyes absent.

Etymology. The name refers to the type locality of the type species, the ría de Arosa, preceded by the Spanish word par (pair), referring to the two localities where the specimens were collected. The name of the type locality in Spanish is feminine, and thus the new genus name is also feminine.

Type species. Pararosa vigarae sp. nov.

Pararosa vigarae sp. nov. Junoy & Verdes

Diagnosis. Heteronemertean with brown to dark green body, head shape retuse; ocelli absent; contracts into regular rings that persist as annular constrictions when stretched.

Etymology. Named after Rosa Vigara, wife of the senior author, as a gift for their golden wedding anniversary. Specific epithet is a noun, in reference to the last name Vigara.

Common name. Accordion worm. 

Spanish common name: gusano acordeón.

 

Aida Verdes, Carlota Gracia-Sancha, Jacinto Pérez-Dieste, María Conejero, Patricia Alvarez Campos, Carlos Leiva, Sergi Taboada, Ana Riesgo and Juan Junoy. 2025. The Accordion Worm: A New Genus and Species of heteronemertean (Nemertea, Pilidiophora) from Galicia (Spain). R. Soc. Open Sci. 12; 250313. DOI: doi.org/10.1098/rsos.250313 [07 May 2025]

 

[Botany • 2025] Solenopsis gutermannii (Campanulaceae) • A New Species from Kefalonia (Ionian Islands, Greece)

  

 Solenopsis gutermannii Brullo, Cambria, Costanzo& Giusso,
 

in Brullo, Gilli, Berger, Cambria, Costanzo, Siracusa et Galdo. 2025. 

DOI: doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy5010013 

Abstract

A new species of Solenopsis (Campanulaceae), S. gutermannii is described and illustrated. It is endemic to Kefalonia island, Greece, where it is very rare and localized in flat clay surfaces that are periodically submerged. This species is a very small annual hygrophyte, characterized by rosulate leaves or with slightly caulescent stems, long-pedunculated flowers, bilabiate corolla, and papillate near the throat. It exhibits close affinities primarily with S. minuta, with which it was previously identified, and additionally with S. antiphonitis, due to similarities in habit and certain flower traits. Nevertheless, several relevant morphological features serve to distinguish it from these species. Its morphology, seed coat and pollen SEM micro-sculpturing, ecology, phenology, distribution, conservation status, and taxonomic relationships are also examined.

Keywords: Lobelioideae; Mediterranean region; morphology; pollen; seed testa; Solenopsis; taxonomy

 Solenopsis gutermannii from type locality.
(A) Habit; (B) Habit magnification (×2); (C) Leaves; (D) Bracteoles; (E) Flower (frontal view); (F) Flower (lateral view); (G) Open corolla; (H) Open calyx; (I) Calyx with capsule; (J) Anthers (frontal view); (K) Anthers (lateral view); (L) Style and stigma; (M) Corolla papillae; (N) Seeds.

Drawing: S. Brullo.

 Habit of living plants of  Solenopsis gutermannii from Kefalonia.
(A) Stemless individual. (B) Caulescent individual.

 Solenopsis gutermannii Brullo, Cambria, Costanzo& Giusso, sp. nov.  

Diagnosis: Solenopsis gutermannii is similar to S. minuta in having usually rosulate leaves, bracteole indumentum, and corolla colour, but it differs in having a permanent annual habit, being acaulescent or briefly scapose, having a leaf rosette 1.2–2 cm in diameter, leaves no more than 12 mm long, with blade entire or weakly crenate without glands at the margin, usually smaller, with a smaller bracteole, smaller calyx (2.5–3.3 mm long), shorter calyx lobes, shorter corolla (6–7 mm long), smaller upper lips of the corolla (2.5–2.7 × 1.8–2.2 mm), not papillate, shorter lower lip of the corolla (3.7–4.2 mm long), papillate at the base, with papillae usually being shorter (0.02–0.2 mm), the staminal filaments and anther tube usually being shorter, the capsule being smaller and papillose, and the seeds smaller.

Etymology: The species is dedicated to the late Walter Gutermann, Austrian botanist from Vienna (1935–2023), and expert on the flora of Austria and the Ionian Islands (Greece), who was the first to discover this species in Kefalonia.

Salvatore Brullo, Christian Gilli, Andreas Berger, Salvatore Cambria, Emanuele Costanzo,Giuseppe Siracusa and Gianpietro Giusso del Galdo. 2025. Solenopsis gutermannii (Campanulaceae), a New Species from Kefalonia (Ionian Islands, Greece). Taxonomy. 5(1); 13; DOI: doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy5010013  [7 March 2025]

[Paleontology• 2025] Dysopodus gezei • A 125 Million-year-old freshwater Isopod shines new light on the Origin of Subterranean Freshwater Species

 

Dysopodus gezei 

Schädel, Azar, El Hajj, Maksoud & Robin, 2025

 

DOI: doi.org/10.1098/rsos.241512 

 x.com/RobinNinon1

Artwork by Aldrich Hezekiah

Abstract

Here, we report fossil isopods preserved in laminated oil-shale mudstone (dysodile) from the Lower Cretaceous of Lebanon (Lower Barremian, 125 Ma, Grès du Liban Alloformation, Jezzine District). Based on a variety of proxies, their palaeoenvironments are determined to have been a shallow freshwater lake. The fossil isopods were studied using modern imaging techniques, such as multispectral imaging and photometric stereo, allowing for a detailed comparison of these specimens with comparable extant and fossil taxa. The conspecific fossils are herein recognized as remains of a new species—†Dysopodus gezei gen. et sp. nov.—of uncertain affinity within Cymothoida and bearing a strong resemblance to its non-parasitic lineages (Cirolanidae). A conspicuous pleotelson and uropod morphology set it apart from most species, with the notable exception of †Pseudoplakolana chiapaneca gen. nov. et comb. nov. from the Cretaceous of Mexico, originally attributed to an Australasian lineage (herein disputed). So far, the biogeographical distribution of the peri-Mediterranean underground fauna has predominantly been explained through a passive isolation process of former marine species, driven by regressing coastlines. Stemming from a freshwater lake environment, the 125 million-year-old fossils from Lebanon provide an unconventional perspective on the evolutionary origin of extant cave- and groundwater-dwelling cymothoidans.

  †Dysopodus gezei gen. et sp. nov., holotype CRU 63124/1, micro-photographic images.
(a) coaxial white light, cross-polarized. (b) visible light-induced luminescence, excitation maximum 435 nm (violet), collected light 835 nm ± 70 nm (infrared). (c) false-colour image derived from multispectral imaging, blue channel: excitation maximum 385 nm (UV), collected light 360 nm ± 23 nm (UV), green channel: excitation maximum 490 nm (cyan), collected light 571 nm ± 72 nm (yellow), red channel: excitation maximum 435 nm (violet), collected light 835 nm ± 70 nm.

 Scale bar: 3 mm. at, antenna; atl, antennula; c, carpus; plt, pleotelson; pp, propodus; pr1−2, pereonites 1−2; un, uropodal endopod; ux, uropodal exopod; ?, unknown structure, likely not part of the isopod.

 Palaeoenvironmental habitat reconstruction for †Dysopodus gezei gen. et sp. nov. (foreground) - a Barremian freshwater lake in the region of present-day Bkassine (Lebanon).

Artwork by Aldrich Hezekiah.

Mario Schädel, Dany Azar, Layla El Hajj, Sibelle Maksoud and Ninon Robin. 2025. A 125 Million-year-old freshwater Isopod shines new light on the Origin of Subterranean Freshwater Species. R. Soc. Open Sci. 12; 241512. DOI: doi.org/10.1098/rsos.241512 [02 April 2025]

 x.com/RobinNinon1/status/1907406641357636000

 

[Mollusca • 2019] Okenia longiductis & O. problematica • What is really out there? Review of the Genus Okenia Menke, 1830 (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae) in the Mediterranean Sea with Description of Two New Species

[A-D] Okenia longiductis 
Okenia problematica 

 Pola, Paz-Sedano, Macali, Minchin, Marchini, Vitale, Licchelli & Crocetta, 2019 

 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215037

Abstract

The precise number of Okenia taxa inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea, as well as their general taxonomy, varies according to different specialists. So far, eight valid species have been reported from the area: Okenia aspersa (Alder & Hancock, 1845), Okenia cupella (Vogel & Schultz, 1970), Okenia elegans (Leuckart, 1828), Okenia hispanica Valdés & Ortea, 1995, Okenia impexa Er. Marcus, 1957, Okenia leachii (Alder & Hancock, 1854), Okenia mediterranea (Ihering, 1886), and Okenia zoobotryon (Smallwood, 1910). Of these, only three (O. elegans, O. hispanica, and O. mediterranea) have their type localities in the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the others were described from different biogeographic areas and later included in the Mediterranean biota. We carried out a review on Mediterranean Okenia species through an integrative approach, based on a wide literature search and a morphological and molecular analysis of available type material and samples collected recently. The present study confirmed the presence of O. aspersa, O. elegans, O. hispanica, and O. mediterranea in the Mediterranean Sea, although leaving remaining questions about some of those taxa. The distribution of O. cupella, O. impexa, and O. zoobotryon is limited to the western Atlantic, and of O. leachii to the eastern Atlantic. All specimens previously identified as O. cupella, O. impexa, and O. zoobotryon by different authors in the Mediterranean Sea were repeatedly misidentified. Thus, we describe Okenia problematica sp. nov. and Okenia longiductis sp. nov., from the “Mediterranean” Okenia cupella/impexa and O. zoobotryon. We also consider here Okenia pusilla Sordi, 1974 a nomen dubium and include a redescription of the holotype of O. cupella. A molecular phylogeny, including all the sequenced Okenia species, was performed in order to evaluate the evolutionary relationships of the newly described species with the other congeneric taxa.

Systematics

Order Nudibranchia Cuvier, 1817

Family Goniodorididae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854

Genus Okenia Menke, 1830

Type species: Idalia elegans Leuckart, 1828 by monotypy

 Okenia longiductis sp. nov.
A. Specimen from Lago di Sabaudia (Italy). Photograph by A. Macali. B. Specimen from La Grande-Motte (France). Photograph by D. Minchin. C. Egg-masses on Amathia verticillata from La Grande-Motte (France). Photograph by D. Minchin. D. Specimen from Mar Piccolo, Taranto (Italy). Photograph by G. Colucci. Size (alcohol-preserved specimens) ~9 mm maximum length.

Okenia longiductis sp. nov.

Etymology: Named longiductis due to its long reproductive ducts.

Ecology: We always found this species living in the infralittoral zone (up to 5 m depth) on the arborescent bryozoan Amathia verticillata (delle Chiaje, 1822) (Fig 3B and 3D). The same depths and feeding association hold for previous records belonging to Okenia zoobotryon. White and ring-shaped egg-masses were present on this bryozoan (Fig 3C).

 Okenia problematica sp. nov. Living animals from Gallipoli (Italy).
A. Holotype (MNCN15.05/200034); B. Paratype (SZN-MOL0001).
Photographs by F. Vitale. Size (alcohol-preserved specimens) ~2.5 mm maximum length.

Okenia problematica sp. nov.

Etymology: Named problematica due to its complex taxonomic history.

Ecology: We always found Okenia problematica sp. nov. at depths below 10 m. The specimens collected in Gallipoli (Italy) were found on an artificial reef located on a sandy bottom, amidst unidentified hydrozoans and encrusting bryozoans. ...

 Marta Pola, Sofía Paz-Sedano , Armando Macali, Dan Minchin, Agnese Marchini, Fabio Vitale, Cataldo Licchelli and Fabio Crocetta. 2019. What is really out there? Review of the Genus Okenia Menke, 1830 (Nudibranchia: Goniodorididae) in the Mediterranean Sea with Description of Two New Species.  PLoS ONE. 14(5): e0215037. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215037

[Botany • 2025] Petrolamium crnojevicii • Morphology and Molecules revealed A remarkable New Genus of Lamiaceae, a surprising discovery in south-eastern Europe

Petrolamium crnojevicii  Dragićević, Vuksanović & Surina, 

in Surina, Vuksanović, Dragićević, Glasnović, Siljak-Yakovlev, Balant, Radosavljević, Xiang et Li, 2025.   

DOI: doi.org/10.1002/tax.13313

Abstract

Petrolamium crnojevicii gen. & sp. nov., a new distinct and remarkable monotypic genus of Lamiaceae, was discovered in the Dinaric karst of southern Montenegro. This taxon exhibits a unique combination of morphological traits, including eglandular, mostly glabrous reniform leaves with 5–7 lobes and prominent hydatodes at their tips. Its small pedicellate flowers feature included anthers and styles within the corolla tube, a straight, narrow, and emarginate to bifurcate posterior corolla lip, and an anterior lip with entire, broadly elliptic-oblong lateral lobes. The trigonous mericarps have a truncated apex and bear fatty tissue. Notably, Petrolamium has a unique chromosome number of 2n = 32. A molecular phylogenetic analysis, based on 79 plastid protein-coding genes and 5 chloroplast markers placed Petrolamium in the subfamily Lamioideae, where it forms a distinct lineage, sister to the other members of the tribe Lamieae. Petrolamium is also unique from an ecological point of view, as it exclusively inhabits floristically depauperate calcareous rock crevices in a very restricted distribution range. This makes P. crnojevicii a critically endangered species according to IUCN criteria and emphasizes the need for immediate conservation efforts. This study highlights the importance of ongoing floristic exploration, demonstrating that even in regions long considered botanically well-known, important discoveries can still emerge, including within extensively investigated plant families like the Lamiaceae.

Keywords: Lamioideae, Mediterranean, molecular phylogeny, new genus, Petrolamium, systematics

 

  

Petrolamium crnojevicii Dragićević, Vuksanović & Surina, gen. et sp. nov.

Boštjan Surina, Snežana Vuksanović, Snežana Dragićević, Peter Glasnović, Sonja Siljak-Yakovlev, Manica Balant, Ivan Radosavljević, Chun-Lei Xiang and Bo Li. 2025.  Morphology and Molecules revealed A remarkable New Genus of Lamiaceae, a surprising discovery in south-eastern Europe. TAXON. DOI: doi.org/10.1002/tax.13313 [18 February 2025]

 

[Botany • 2020] Centaurea devasiana (Asteraceae) • A New Species from Prespa, NW Greece

 

Centaurea devasiana Bergmeier & Strid,   

in Bergmeier et Strid, 2020. 

 Researchgate.net/publication/348754080 

Abstract

 Centaurea devasiana (Asteraceae) is described as a new species of the section Acrolophus. It is restricted to a small area on Mt Devas, Prespa National Park, NW Greece, and is most closely related to a group of narrow Balkan endemics of the Prespa-Ohrid region. The species is illustrated, and its morphological characteristics, habitat and conservation issues are described. An identification key to C. devasiana and similar local species is also provided. 

Key words: Centaurea sect. Acrolophus, endemic, Mt Devas, plant species, Prespa National Park, taxonomy

Centaurea devasiana Bergmeier & Strid, sp. nov.

Diagnosis: Similar to Centaurea galicicae but differing in the following characters: stems erect; leaves grey-green, tomentose, segments linear to linear-lanceolate; phyllary appendages narrowly triangular, suberect, terminal spinule equal or longer than and exceeding the whitish lateral cilia; achenes with pappus much shorter than its body

Bergmeier, E. & Strid, A. 2020. Centaurea devasiana – A New Species from Prespa, NW Greece. Phytologia Balcanica. 25(3):281-286. 

  Researchgate.net/publication/348754080_Centaurea_devasiana_a_new_species_from_Prespa_NW_Greece

[Paleontology • 2024] Early–middle Permian Mediterranean gorgonopsian suggests an equatorial origin of therapsids

a gorgonopsian from the island of Mallorca, western Mediterranean

in Matamales-Andreu, Kammerer, Angielczyk, Simões, Mujal, Galobart et Fortuny, 2024.  

DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54425-5  

Reconstruction by Henry Sutherland Sharpe

Abstract

Therapsids were a dominant component of middle–late Permian terrestrial ecosystems worldwide, eventually giving rise to mammals during the early Mesozoic. However, little is currently known about the time and place of origin of Therapsida. Here we describe a definitive therapsid from the lower–?middle Permian palaeotropics, a partial skeleton of a gorgonopsian from the island of Mallorca, western Mediterranean. This specimen represents, to our knowledge, the oldest gorgonopsian record worldwide, and possibly the oldest known therapsid. Using emerging relaxed clock models, we provide a quantitative timeline for the origin and early diversification of therapsids, indicating a long ghost lineage leading to the evolutionary radiation of all major therapsid clades within less than 10 Myr, in the aftermath of Olson’s Extinction. Our findings place this unambiguous early therapsid in an ancient summer wet biome of equatorial Pangaea, thus suggesting that the group originated in tropical rather than temperate regions.

Systematic palaeontology

Synapsida Osborn, 190313

Therapsida Broom, 190514

Gorgonopsia Seeley, 189415

Gorgonopsia indet.

Most relevant elements of DA21/17-01-01 and silhouette showing their positions

 Life reconstruction of the gorgonopsian from Mallorca in a floodplain setting.

Reconstruction by Henry Sutherland Sharpe

 Rafel Matamales-Andreu, Christian F. Kammerer, Kenneth D. Angielczyk, Tiago R. Simões, Eudald Mujal, Àngel Galobart and Josep Fortuny. 2024. Early–middle Permian Mediterranean gorgonopsian suggests an equatorial origin of therapsids. Nature Communications. 15: 10346. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54425-5  

[Botany • 2022] Sternbergia mishustinii (Amaryllidaceae: Amaryllidoideae) • A New Species from the Mersin Province in southern Turkey

Sternbergia mishustinii  Zubov & Trias-Blasi, 

in Zubov, Trias Blasi et Mishustin, 2022. 

DOI: 10.1007/s12225-022-10013-8  

 Researchgate.net/publication/359614613 

Summary

Sternbergia mishustinii (Amaryllidaceae, Amaryllidoideae), a new species with hysteranthous leaves and mainly cleistogamous flowers, possibly endemic to the Mersin area (Cilician Plain, southern Turkey), is described and illustrated. Morphological differences between the new species and other related species are discussed. Photographs (habitat and morphology), a distribution map and a provisional conservation assessment are provided.

Key Words: Cilician Plain, cleistogamy, hysteranthous, Mediterranean flora

 Images of Sternbergia mishustinii in situ, Feb. 2019.
A habitat within Mediterranean garrigue community at type locality; B, C plants of S. mishustinii.

photos: R. Mishustin.

 Morphological features of seed grown and cultivated in Ukraine in adult plants of Sternbergia mishustinii vs S. colchiciflora.
 A fruiting plants in pots: S. colchiciflora (left pot, origin -Berezino, Odessa region, S Ukraine), S. mishustinii (right pot, ex locus classicus); B S. mishustinii plants lifted from pots: range of ages from seedlings to mature fruiting individuals (left to right); C fruiting plants lifted from pots with adventitious roots, basal sheaths, bulbs, leaves, scapes and capsules: S. colchiciflora (left three plants, origin -Berezino, Odessa region, S Ukraine), S. mishustinii (right two plants, ex locus classicus); D S. mishustinii bulb with a chasmogamous flower; E S. mishustinii bulbs with cleistogamous flowers; F S. mishustinii chasmogamous flower; G S. mishustinii ripening capsule; H seeds with strophioles (marked by arrows): S. colchiciflora (left side: ± C-shaped, origin -Berezino, Odessa region, S Ukraine), S. mishustinii (right side: ± Ç-shaped, ex locus classicus).

 photos: R. Mishustin.

Sternbergia mishustinii Zubov & Trias Blasi sp. nov. 

Etymology. Named after Mr Ruslan Mishustin, Ukrainian nature explorer, who found and collected its seeds in 1997 during a zoological trip in southern Turkey.

Dimitri Zubov, Anna Trias Blasi and Ruslan Mishustin. 2022. Sternbergia mishustinii (Amaryllidaceae): A New Species from the Mersin Province in southern Turkey. Kew Bulletin. DOI: 10.1007/s12225-022-10013-8 

  Researchgate.net/publication/359614613_Sternbergia_mishustinii_a_new_species_from_Mersin_southern_Turkey

[Botany • 2024] Phelipanche cingularum (Orobanchaceae) • A New Species from southern France

 

Phelipanche cingularum Croze, Carlón, J.-M.Tison, Michaud, J.Molina & Moreno Mor., 

in Croze, Carlón Ruiz, Tison, Michaud, Molina et Moreno Moral. 2024. 

Phélipanche des vires  ||  DOI: doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.653.1.1 

 Researchgate.net/publication/381394062  

 facebook.com/CBNMediterraneen

photos by T. Croze.

Abstract

A new species of Phelipanche has been discovered in various steep places in southern France at meso- and supra-mediterranean levels. It is always parasitic on Brassicaceae, almost exclusively on Hesperis laciniata, a plant that had never been reported as host for any Orobanchaceae previously. The new species, named Phelipanche cingularum for its rocky ledge (cingula) habitat, is described and illustrated. Diagnostic characters against up to 16 presumably related species are given. We also present the results of molecular analyses well-supporting its independence. The distribution and the unusual ecology of the plant are considered and illustrated, and its conservation status is evaluated.

Cévennes, conservation, Liguro-Provençal Pre-alps, Mediterranean, molecular phylogeny, Provence, taxonomy, Eudicots

Phenological stages.

photos by T. Croze.

Phelipanche cingularum Croze, Carlón, J.-M.Tison, Michaud, J.Molina & Moreno Mor., sp. nov.

Etymology:—the specific epithet is from a feminised late Latin form (genitive of cingula) derived of the classical Latin cingulum (belt), having given place to several words applied in southern France to grassy fringes surrounding limestone cliffs along its base or in ledges. It refers to the peculiar ecology of the plant grows on small flat rocky areas,or « vires » in French.

French name:—Phélipanche des vires. 

 

Thomas Croze, Luis Carlón Ruiz, Jean-Marc Tison, Henri Michaud, James Molina, Gonzalo Moreno Moral. 2024. Phelipanche cingularum (Orobanchaceae), A New Species from southern France. Phytotaxa. 653(1); 1-19. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.653.1.1

  Researchgate.net/publication/381394062_Phelipanche_cingularum_a_new_species_from_southern_France

  facebook.com/CBNMediterraneen/posts/871926318289785