Poa timoleontis var. timoleontis var. timoleontis
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: 12.1.Poa timoleontis var. timoleontis Fig. 9 A, B = Poa aitosensis Kožuharov & Stoeva, Spornik, 90 Godini Akademik Daki Iordanov. 155, f. 6. 1984. Type specimen. Bulgaria, Vallis Tundzae, supra urbem Aitos, l. d. Hisar, 10 May 1977, Stoeva MS- No. 150 (holotype: SOM 1378 (image shared with rjs)). Note. See Soreng and Tasenkevich (2025, fig. 5) for discussion and image of the Type. Description. Perennials; hermaphroditic; primary roots 0.1–0.2 mm diam.; tufted, without rhizomes or stolons, tufts dense, small, low (1–3.5 cm tall), compact, not mat-forming, greyish dark-green, often violaceous in part; tillers intravaginal; prophylls 0.8–1.5 cm long, included in the adjacent sheaths or slightly exerted, keels smooth or retrorsely scabrous; bulbs present, sub-subglobose to short pyriform, slender, outermost sheaths papery to subcoriaceous, strongly veined, veins coarse, persisting as a tunic, inner basal most sheaths thickened, indurate at the base for 3–4 mm, up to ca 1 cm long. Culms (3 –) 5–18 (– 22) cm tall, erect or geniculately ascending, internodes smooth or lightly scabrous below panicle, glabrous, 1 (– 2) nodes exerted, uppermost node at ca 1 / 3 plant height. Leaves mostly basal, culm leaves 1–2; leaf sheaths of culms weakly compressed, strongly imbricated at base, smooth throughout or keel scabrous, sometimes scabrous on the sides near the collar, glabrous; basal sheaths forming bulbs; flag-leaf sheaths (1.5 –) 2–5 (– 6) cm long, margins fused 15–24 % the length, smooth, glabrous; throats and collars smooth or sparsely scaberulous, glabrous; ligules of upper culm leaves (2 –) 3–6 mm long, scarious, milky-white, to bright white, smooth (sparsely scabrous, apices acute, entire, tridentate, sometimes lacerate; ligules of sterile shoots 2–6 mm long, broadly decurrent with lateral margins to 1 mm wide (with inflated cells at collar margins), approximately as wide as long, usually dentate or lacerate, smooth or with few prickles; blades of culm 0.2–2.5 (– 3) cm long, 0.3–0.8 mm wide, subequal or gradually reduced in length upward, folded, filiform, thin to moderately firm, usually retaining their shape in age, abaxially smooth to moderately scabrous, margins densely scabrous, glabrous throughout, apices narrowly prow-tipped, scabrous; flag-leaf blades 0.2–1.2 (– 1.5), av. 0.9 cm long, av. 2 / 7 the length of its sheath; sterile shoot blades, filiform, keeled with sub-involute margins, proximally abaxially smooth except for along the margins and sometimes along the keel, glabrous, not readily withering. Panicles (1.5 –) 2–3 (– 5) cm long, 0.5–1.5 (– 2) cm wide, erect, narrowly ovoid to subcapitate, contracted, compact, crowded, with 10–30 spikelets; branches 1–2 (– 3) at the lowest node; primary branches 0.3–1.5 (– 1.7) cm, with 2–10 spikelets in the distal 1 / 2, steeply ascending, terete to weakly angled, fairly stiff, sparsely to densely scabrous; pedicels mostly less than 0.5 mm long. Spikelets (2.5 –) 3–5 (– 8) mm long, ovate, compact, laterally compressed, pale greenish, usually violaceous in part, not bulbiferous; florets (2 –) 3–9 (– 10); rachilla internodes 0.3–0.4 (– 0.6) mm long, obscurely muriculate, or sparsely scaberulous, glabrous; glumes unequal to subequal, broadly lanceolate to narrowly ovate, keels distally moderately scabrous, sides smooth, edges mostly sparsely scaberulous, apices acute; lower glumes (1.5 –) 1.7–2.7 (– 3 mm), 3 - veined; upper glumes 2.2–3.2 (– 3.6) mm, 3–5 - veined, narrowly ovate; callus glabrous [rarely with a few short hairs (× bulbosa?]); lemmas 2–3.5 mm long, 3 (– 5) - veined, broadly lanceolate to ovate, pale green and usually strongly violaceous, distinctly keeled, keel and marginal veins sericeous to villous (hairs ca 0.3–0.7 mm long, dense, blunt tipped, spreading in anthesis only), between veins smooth or distally scaberulous, glabrous, intermediate veins faint to obscure or absent, margins inrolled, distally moderately scarious-hyaline, edges sparsely to moderately scaberulous, apices acute, pointed; palea keels scaberulous to scabrous, between keels smooth, glabrous, flanges appressed, narrow. Flowers bisexual; lodicules 0.5 mm long, lanceolate, shouldered or lobed; anthers (1.0 –) 1.2–1.5 mm long. Caryopses 1.1–1.7 mm long, weakly compressed, broadly sulcate, honey brown, hard, adherent to the palea; hilum 0.2 mm long, elliptical. 2 n = 14, 14 + 2 B, 28. Clade code: Aa. Distribution and ecology. Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece (Attica Soreng et N. Soreng 3751; Peloponnese Soreng 3815), Italy, Lebanon, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Syria, Turkey. Semiarid habitats, forest openings, low to high steppe, commonly on sedimentary substrates; in Turkey, 400–2,000 m. Conservation status. None. Comments. Poa timoleontis is quite distinctive for its low compact stature, and long broadly decurrent white ligules. Sources indicate it is strictly diploid, but P. aitosensis from Bulgaria is probably the same, differing, according to the authors, only in being tetraploid (Kožuharov and Stoeva 1983; Stoeva 1983). Bor (1968, plate 41). Fig. 3 G, H, I illustrates the basal shoot, prophyll and ligule. Fig. 3 G, K, I illustrates the basal shoot, prophyll and ligule. Fig. 9 A, B, C illustrates a normal habit, inflorescence and spikelet. Representative specimens. Turkey. Ankara (Coode et Jones 131 E; Soreng et al. 3863, 3840; Soreng et Kaya 9295). Isparta (Soreng et al. 4137). Kayseri (Coode et Jones 1309 E; Gillespie et Levin 10310; Soreng et al. 8880). Kırklareli (Soreng et al. 8805, 9024-1). Konya (Soreng et Cabi 9250 *). Sinop (Tobey 2615 E). Sivas (Simon 69-531 G). Tekirdağ (Soreng et Cabi 9280).
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225794521
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