CHOROLOGY AND NEW CHOROLOGICAL DATA FOR ASTRAGALUS CORNICULATUS M. BIEB. IN ROMANIA. Introduction

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1 Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii Al. I. Cuza Iaşi s. II a. Biologie vegetală, 2014, 60, 1: ISSN: , E-ISSN: CHOROLOGY AND NEW CHOROLOGICAL DATA FOR ASTRAGALUS CORNICULATUS M. BIEB. IN ROMANIA Attila BARTÓK 1*, Irina IRIMIA 2*, Ciprian MÂNZU 2* Abstract: The paper points one new locality in Moldova (Romania) of Astragalus corniculatus M. Bieb., tracking at the same time the species distribution in Romania, using herbarium materials and existing bibliographic sources. Keywords: Astragalus corniculatus M. Bieb., Romania, threatened species, Red Book, chorology. Introduction Astragalus corniculatus M. Bieb. (Cent. Pl. 1 : t ) is a perennial, suffrutescent, 8-20 cm tall; ascending, rarely erect, castaneous-brown. Stems of the year (1) 3-6 (10) cm long, assurgent to erect, slender, rather sparsely covered with appressed white hairs. Stipules free, ovate-lanceolate to ovate, 2-3 mm long, covered with appressed white hairs. Leaves 4-7 cm long, the petiole and the much longer rachis very slender, subfiliform, covered with appressed white hairs. Leaflets 6-10 pairs, narrowly linear, 5-10 mm long, mm broad, subobtuse, appressed-hairy on both sides. Racemes umbelliform -capitate, cm long, 3-5 (10)-flowered. Bracts ovate to ovate -lanceolate, ca.1 mm long, somewhat shorter than the pedicel, covered with black or mixed black and white hairs; calyx cylindric, 8-10 (12) mm long, covered with subappressed black hairs, the subulate teeth 2-3 mm long, the tube 3-4 times as long as the teeth. Corolla pinkish-violet or white; standard mm long, the limb subrhomboidally oval, slightly and broadly emarginate, abruptly narrowed in lower 1/4, angular at base, 3 times as as long as the claw; wing-petals mm long, the limb oblong, scarcely or slightly retuse, as long as the claw. Keel mm long, the limb broadly semiobovate, obtusish, the claw 1.5 times as long as the limb. Pods sessile, obliquely ascending or horizontally spreading, subulate -linear, slightly curved, mm long, mm broad, carinate ventrally, scarcely canaliculate dorsally, abruptly narrowed into a straight slenderly subulate beak cm long, coriaceous, rather sparsely covered with appressed white hairs, bilocular (Komarov, 1946). Flowering time: May. It is a heliophytic and thermophil species which occurs in steppe, on grasslands, skeletal soils (Sârbu et al., 2013). The general distribution of the species includes the Southern part of Russia and Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and the Caucasus. In Romanian flora, Astragalus corniculatus is a rare species (Oprea, 2005; Ciocârlan, 2009; Sârbu et al., 2013), found in the Red list of superior plants of Romania as rare (R) (Oltean et al., 1994), placed in the rare sozological category (R) (Boşcaiu et al., 1994; Negrean, 2001) and in vulnerable sozological category (Dihoru and Dihoru, 1994). Species was also included in the Red book of vascular plants of Romania (Negrean and 1 Actavis, 11 Ion Mihalache Blvd., , Bucureşti, Romania; bartok.attila@gmail.com 2 Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi - Faculty of Biology, Bd. Carol I no. 11, , Iaşi, Romania * All authors contributed equally to this work.

2 Dihoru, 2009), in the Vulnerable (VU) category and in Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria, in the Endangered (EN) category ( On the territory of Romania, Astragalus corniculatus has been found with certainty only in Dobrogea, herbarium sheets identified by the authors of this paper in the most important Romanian Herbariums demonstrate this. From the phytocoenological point of view the species is included in Festucetalia valesiacae order (Sârbu et al., 2013). Materials and methods The identification of the taxa has been done using the following floras and papers: Romanian Flora, vol. V; Flora Europaea, vol. 2; Flora ilustrată a României Pteridophyta et Spermatophyta (Ciocârlan, 2009); Plante vasculare din România: determinator ilustrat de teren (Sârbu et al., 2013). The distribution of A. corniculatus in Romania, has been made based on data from the herbarium collections (BP, CL, BVS, SIB) (Thiers, 2012), Personal Herbariums: G. Negrean [HGN] and A. Bartók [HAB] and also different bibliographical sources. Herbarium abbreviation follows Index Herbariorum ( except Personal Herbariums. The collected materials were registered and stored in Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iaşi - Faculty of Biology Herbarium [I] and in Personal Herbarium A. Bartók [HAB]. Results and discussions First herbarium sheet with Astragalus corniculatus collected from Romania, comes from D. Brândză [CL 41750] who gathered the species from Murfatlar late of 19 th century, under the name Astragalus rochelianus Heuff. Subsequently I. Prodan determined the correct species (Astragalus corniculatus M. Bieb.). P. Enculescu found this species in 1913, also in Murfatlar, but herbarium sheet is recorded as Astragalus vesicarius L. I. Irimia reviewed herbarium sheet in E. I. Nyárády collected in 1933 Astragalus corniculatus from Murfatlar, but I. Prodan also makes correct determination of the species (Prodan, 1936). Interestingly, that C. Zahariadi did not mention Astragalus corniculatus in Fântâniţa-Murfatlar Nature Reserve (Zahariadi, 1965), although he collected the species in 1951, in the territory of mentioned Reservation. A. Popescu reviewed the herbarium sheet in According to C. Zahariadi the following species of Astragalus are present in the Reservation: Astragalus virgatus Pall, A. albiflorus Waldst. & Kit. and A. onobrychis f. linearifolius (Pers.) Ledeb. G. Negrean collected Astragalus corniculatus from Murfatlar (Constanţa county) in 1953, above the vineyards. C. Horeanu found the species in the north of Constanţa county and he reported Astragalus corniculatus in Masivul Geologic Cheia Natural Reservation and in Casimcea Valley, opposite the villages Gura Dobrogei and Palazul Mic (Horeanu, 1973; Horeanu, 1976a). The same author indicates Astragalus corniculatus in the north of Tulcea county (Călugăreni and Războieni) (Horeanu, 1973; Horeanu, 1976b). Unfortunately, we did not 88

3 find herbarium sheets demonstrating the existence of the species in the places indicated by Horeanu. Figure 1. Astragalus corniculatus M. Bieb. in Saca Hill (Todireni village), 2 nd May 2014, Photo A. Bartók 89

4 For 38 years (from 1976 to 2014), there was no new mention about Astragalus corniculatus in Romanian botanical literature. Also, the last herbarium sheet that we found from Romania dates from 1953 (G. Negrean, [HGN]). Species was erroneously mentioned in the Danube Gorge (Cazanele Mari, Cazanele Mici and Goleţul Mic) (Matacă, 2003; Matacă, 2005) based on a paper appearing in 1964 (Călinescu and Iana, 1964) where the authors mentioned Astragalus rochelianus Heuff., in the above mentioned places. Flora Europaea clearly highlights that Astragalus rochelianus is synonymous with Astragalus onobrychis L., noway with Astragalus corniculatus. Unfortunately in recent Romanian botanical works (Oprea, 2005; Sârbu et al., 2013) the error is perpetuated, Astragalus corniculatus being also cited in Mehedinţi county. Figure 2. The chorological map of Astragalus corniculatus M. Bieb. in Romania 90

5 Figure 3. Original herbarium sheet by E. I. Nyarady with collection of Astragalus corniculatus M. Bieb. from Murfatlar [CL ]. 91

6 During the floristical investigations performed in Saca Hill (Todireni village, Vaslui county), in order to rediscover Palimbia rediviva Pall. (Thell.) threatened species, authors of this paper, found on 2 nd May 2014, a small population (5 individuals) of Astragalus corniculatus (Fig. 1). The area had been investigated floristically (Mititelu and Navrotescu, 1983), but Astragalus corniculatus was not found in respective area. Discovered populations are strongly threatened considering that the hills are intensively grazed. In the studied area the following species were also recorded: Astragalus exscapus L. subsp. pubiflorus (DC.) Soó, Bellevalia sarmatica (Pall. ex Georgi) Woronow, Ajuga chamaepitys (L.) Schreb., Thesium arvense Horv., Oxytropis pilosa (L.) DC., Ajuga laxmannii (L.) Benth., Plantago schwarzenbergiana Schur etc. We hereby list all the known specimens, including those traced by us in [I; CL; BUCA; HGN; HAB], arranged in the chronological order of gathering. It is worth mentioning that no voucher specimen was found in [IAGB; IASI; BUAG; BVS; CRA; SIB].? [CL]: Brândză, Murfatlar 1897 [I]:?, Murfatlar 1913 [I]: Enculescu, Murfatlar 1933 [CL]: Nyárády, Murfatlar 1951 [BUCA]: Zahariadi, Murfatlar 1953 [HGN]: Negrean, Basarabi 2014 [I; HAB]: Bartók, Irimia, Mânzu, Chinan, Todireni Table 1. Herbarium sheets with Astragalus corniculatus M. Bieb. in Romania Geographical region County Locality Date Collected by Dobrogea Constanţa România, în? D. Brândză Dobrogea la as Murfatlar. Astragalus rochelianus (Det. I. Prodan) Dobrogea Constanţa Murfatlar, pe 16/IV/1897? dealurile as calcaroase. Astragalus onobrychis var. banaticus (Rev. I. Irimia) Dobrogea Constanţa Murfatlar, pe sol scheletic, pe coaste ceva mai umede. 9/IV/1913 P. Enculescu as Astragalus vesicarius (Rev. I. Irimia) Source [CL 41750] [I 9609, 9610] [I 51815] 92

7 Dobrogea Constanţa In graminosis petrosisve ad Platou supra pagum Murfatlar, alt. cca. 150 m. Dobrogea Constanţa Murfatlar, Dobrogea. Dobrogea Constanţa Basarabi, deasupra terasărilor cu vii. Moldova Vaslui Todireni, Păşune. Moldova Vaslui In graminosis et herbosis collinae Saca, prope pagum Todireni. Solo loessaceo. 30/VI/1933 E. I. Nyárády (Det. I. Prodan) [CL ] 5/V/1951 C. Zahariadi (Rev. A. Popescu) [BUCA ] 1/V/1953 G. Negrean [HGN] 2/V/2014 2/V/2014 A. Bartók I. Irimia C. Mânzu V. Chinan A. Bartók I. Irimia C. Mânzu V. Chinan [I ] [HAB] The species distribution in Romania is shown in Table 1. The chorological map of A. corniculatus M. Bieb. in Romania is shown in Figure 2. Although in current Red book of vascular plants of Romania (Dihoru and Negrean, 2009), Astragalus corniculatus is included in the Vulnerable (VU) sozological category, we propos to change this status to Critically Endangered (CR), category given by the rarity and high vulnerability of the species. Conclusions This is the first record of Astragalus corniculatus in Moldova (Romania), in Saca hills (Todireni village, Vaslui county). The species is certainly found in Romania in Murfatlar area (all the herbarium sheets from Romania come from this locality) and in Todireni area (where it was found by the authors of this paper). Astragalus corniculatus M. Bieb. is not found in the Danube Gorges as erroneously stated in some Romanian botanical works. In the newly discovered localities, the species is very rare and is strongly threatened considering that the hills are intensively grazed. We propose to change the threatened status in next edition of Romanian Red Book from Vulnerable (VU) to Critically Endangered (CR) category. Acknowledgements We wish to thank to Dr. Gavril Negrean, Dr. Mihai Puşcaş, Dr. Ghizela Vonica, Dr. Adrian Indreică, Dr. Sorin Ştefănuţ, Dr. Adrian Oprea, Dr. Culiţă Sârbu, Dr. Daniel Răduţoiu and Dr. Marcela Pădure. 93

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