Eryngium maritimum
Eryngium maritimum L.
Apiaceae – Carrot family
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B1ab(ii,iii,iv,v)+2ab(ii); C2a(i)]. BDA.
Morphology and biology. Herbaceous glaucous perennial, sometimes monocarpic. Root cylindrical, brown. Stem 30–60 cm high, erect, branched. Leaves coriaceous, with prominent venation, 3–5-lobed, with coarse, patent, spinescent teeth. Inflorescence bluish, spreading, with numerous pedunculate, subglobose capitula. Bracts broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, with 3–5 large, spinescent teeth. Capitula 1–2 cm in diameter, many-flowered. Sepals 4–5 mm. Petals pale blue. Fruit densely scaly, 13–15 mm long; mericarps with 3 ridges. Fl. VI−IX, fr. VII−X. Insect and wind pollination. Reproduction by seeds.
Habitats and populations. Occurs on sand dunes, in sandy and stony places, along the coast, most often together with Cakile maritima, Medicago maritima, Salsola kali, etc. Usually grows in small groups or as scattered solitary plants.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Black Sea coast, Thracian Lowland (Shishmantsi village, Plovdiv district). There is a herbarium specimen from the eastern Forebalkan (near Veliko Tarnovo), collected by Ahtarov in 1906, but the locality has not been confirmed since.
General distribution. In the coastal areas of Europe, Caucasus and SW Asia.
Threats. Intensive use of sandy coastal areas for recreation; cleaning of psammophytic vegetation on the beaches; active touring activities and trampling in the localities; infrastructural development; natural disasters (land slides); limited distribution and small populations; low recruitment potential; adaptation to a specific habitat.
Conservation measures taken. Protected species by the Biodiversity Act. Some subpopulations are within protected areas (Ropotamo and Kaliakra Strict Nature Reserves, Pyasachna Liliya Managed Nature Reserve, Silistar and Ustie na Veleka Protected Sites, Pyasachni Dyuni in Nesebar, Pyasachni Dyuni Alepu, Pyasachni Dyuni Babata, Pyasachni Dyuni Kavatsite Nature Monuments, etc.). Most localities are in sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Study on the state of the localities, reproductive biology of the species, and the factors affecting the population size; based on these studies adaptation of the conservation measures; designation of some localities as protected areas; collection of seeds for the National Seed Genebank in Bulgaria.
References. Assenov 1982; Bozhilova & Tonkov 1984; Meshinev et al. 1994.
Author: Lyuba Evstatieva
