Cardamine parviflora

Cardamine parviflora L.

Brassicaceae – Cabbage family

Conservation status. Regionally extinct [RE]. BDA.

Morphology and biology. Annual herb. Stem 7–30 cm. Leaves pinnate, with 3–5 pairs of entire leaflets, glabrous, without auricules at base. Inflorescence racemose, terminal. Petals oblong, 2–3 mm long, white. Fruit a linear siliqua. Fl. V–VI, fr. VI–VII. Self-pollinated. Reproduces by seeds.

Habitats and populations. In moist, usually seasonally flooded, places.

Distribution in Bulgaria. Thracian Lowland (Barba grove near Manole village, Plovdiv district).

General distribution. Europe, Mediterranean Area, S, C and E Asia, the Caucasus, Siberia.

Threats. Human activities, mainly the changes in the land use regimes and hydrological regime in the locality, had negative impact on the habitat and caused the extinction of the species from the Bulgarian flora.

Conservation measures taken. Protected species according to the national Biodiversity Act.

Conservation measures needed. Thorough exploration of the region of the former occurrence for possible re-discovery of the species; research for re-introduction of the species from another European population.

Note. The species was reported by Velenovský (1898) based on material collected by V. Stribrny in 1896 near Manole village, Plovdiv district (SOA 15574 !). Afterwards the species has not been seen again. The Bulgarian locality is the only locality on the Balkan Peninsula. It is assumed that the species became extinct due to human activities in the region and changes of the ecological conditions in the locality. Re-discovery of the species is possible (Ančev 2001).

References. Velenovský 1898, Georgiev & Kitanov 1939; Assenov 1970; Andreev 1984; Akeroyd 1993; Jalas & Suominen 1994; Ančev 2001, 2007.

Authors: Valentina Goranova & Mincho Anchev


Cardamine parviflora (distribution map)

Cardamine parviflora (drawing)