Daphne laureola
Daphne laureola L.
Thymeleaceae – Daphne family
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(i,ii,iii)]. BDA.
Morphology and biology. Evergreen shrub; young shoots greenish, glabrous. Leaves 30–120 × 10–35 mm, at least 3 times as long as wide, obovate-oblanceolate, subacute, coriaceous, glabrous, shining, mostly clustered at the ends of the branches. Flowers yellowish-green, glabrous, in short, axillary racemes on the previous year's growth. Sepals ovate, acute, about 1/3 as long as the hypanthium. Hypanthium 5–9 mm long. Drupe ovoid, black.Fl. III–IV, fr. V–VIII. Reproduction by seeds.
Habitats and populations. Single plants to mosaic subpopulations in shadowy beech or fir forests, on limestone.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Forebalkan (Vrachanski Balkan, Chiprovska Planina – near the town of Chiprovtsi), Rhodopi Mts (Central – Chervenata Stena Strict Nature Reserve and Koru Dere locality). There are old herbarium specimens from Pirin Mts, but the species has not been confirmed there, and a literature record for Balkan Range (Central – Shipchenski Balkan). From 1000 up to 1900 m alt.
General distribution. W, C and S Europe, SW Asia (Asia Minor), N Africa.
Threats. Timber production (cutting of beech and coniferous forests) and potential tourism development (construction of facilities for tourism).
Conservation measures taken. The species is protected by the Biodiversity Act. The subpopulations of the species are within the borders of Chervenata Stena Strict Nature Reserve, Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park, Central Balkan and Pirin National Parks, as well as in sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Detailed study of the chorology, biology and ecology of the species, numerical strength and area of its subpopulations; long-term monitoring; collection of seeds for the National Seed Genebank in Bulgaria.
References. Webb & Ferguson 1968; Markova & Tcherneva 1979; Markova 1984; Dimova & Vladimirov 2006.
Author: Dessislava Dimitrova
