Crassula tillaea
Crassula tillaea Lest.-Garl.
Crassulaceae – Stonecrop family
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)]. BDA.
Morphology and biology. Small annual moss-like plant. Stems up to 5 cm long, branched, glabrous, procumbent or ascending. Leaves opposite, up to 2 mm long, scale-like or ovoid, closely set on the stem, usually reddish. Flowers clustered in the leaf-axils of the upper leaves, 3-, rarely 4-fid. Petals up to 1 mm long, white or pink. Fruit a group of follicles. Fl. III–V, fr. IV–VI.
Habitats and populations. Dry, sunny, stony places and open grasslands on shallow or sandy soils, up to 200 m alt. Populations are usually with low number of individuals, not extensive and strongly fragmented.
Distribution in Bulgaria. West Frontier Mts (Ograzhden), valley of River Struma (southern), Belasitsa Mts (Petrich). Some of the known localities in the River Struma valley and Belasitsa Mts have not been confirmed during the last years.
General distribution. W, C and S Europe, Balkan Peninsula, Mediterranean, N Africa.
Threats. Trampling, pollution and afforestation in some of the known localities, probably also natural succession of the vegetation leading to the loss of the habitats.
Conservation measures taken. Protected species by the national Biodiversity Act. All known localities are in sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Sustainable management and conservation of the habitat and of the known localities. Survey and monitoring of the area of occupancy and the status of the populations.
References. Valev 1970; Cheshmedzhiev 1984; Petrova et al. 2007.
Authors: Boris Assyov & Cvetomir M. Denchev
