Anthemis stribrnyi
Anthemis stribrnyi Velen.
Anthemis thracica (Grisb.) Stoj. & Acht. var. stribrnyi (Velen.) Stoj. & Acht.
Asteraceae – Daisy family
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B1ab(ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(ii); C2a(i)]. IUCN(R), BDA. Bulgarian endemic.
Morphology and biology. Herbaceous biennial to perennial, with a fusiform root. Stems numerous, 15–20 cm high, leafy in the lower half, with patent simple hairs. Leaves long-petiolate, 1–3-pinnatisect; segments linear-elliptic, moderately hairy or glabrous. Capitula 5–7 mm in diameter, solitary. Involucral bracts yellowish green, hairy, with pale brown hyaline margin. Ligules white, 5–6 mm long; tubular florets yellow. Receptacle conical, acute; scales apiculate, glabrous, with a broad hyaline margin; longer than florets. Achenes obpyramidal, 4-angled, ribbed, 1.2–1.5 mm long, without or with 0.5–0.7 mm corona. Fl. VI−IX, fr. VII−X. Wind and insect pollination. Reproduction by seeds and vegetative means (shoots).
Habitats and populations. Grows in stony, rocky and dry grassy places at the mountain foothills and mountains. Population is fragmented; fragments are isolated from each other, comprising scattered solitary individuals or small groups of plants.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Rhodopi Mts (Yavorovo village near Asenovgrad, Smolyan, Ardino, between Pesnopoi and Latinka villages), Thracian Lowland (Maritsa town), Tundzha Hilly Country (Sakar Mt); at 100–1600 m alt.
General distribution. Bulgaria.
Threats. Soil erosion; very restricted distribution; small and strongly fragmented population.
Conservation measures taken. Protected species by the Biodiversity Act. Included in 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants as ‘rare’. Some localities are within sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Studies on the state of the localities, reproductive biology of the species and the factors affecting the population size, and based on these results, adaptation of the conservation measures; designation of some of the localities as protected areas; collection of seeds for the National Seed Genebank in Bulgaria.
References. Fernandes 1976; Thin 1980; Kuzmanov 1984a, b; Walters & Gillet 1998; Bondev 2006.
Author: Lyuba Evstatieva
