Hieracium belogradcense
Hieracium belogradcense T. Georgiev & Kitan.
Asteraceae – Daisy family
Conservation status. Critically Endangered [CR B1ab(ii,iii)+2ab(ii,iii)]. BDA. Bulgarian endemic.
Morphology and biology. Perennial herb. Stems erect, 50–90 cm tall, leafy, hairy. Leaves oblanceolate, dentate, acute at the apex, subglabrous above, with simple eglandular hairs beneath and on the margin. Synflorescence with 20–60 flower heads. Involucre 8–9 mm long, broadly cylindrical. Involucral bracts imbricate, subglabrous (sometimes with sparse stellate hairs). Fl. VII, fr. VIII. Apomictic species. Reproduction by seeds (formed through agamospermy) and vegetative means.
Habitats and populations. Usually in forest openings and edges, rock crevices. Known only from the type locality. The population consists of smaller or larger groups of individuals and comprises several hundred to a few thousand mature plants.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Forebalkan (western – near Belogradchik town); at 500–550 m alt.
General distribution. Bulgaria.
Threats. Low population density and size; some fragments of the population occur in the town’s suburbs and are subjected to house-hold pollution and trampling. Potential threat is the building works in the suburb areas which may cause loss of some of the population fragments.
Conservation measures taken. Protected species under the national Biodiversity Act. The locality is included in the Belogradchishki Skali Nature Monument as well as in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Precise estimation of the population size and area of occupancy; investigations into the species biology and ecology and the particular threats; marking of the locality and raising public awareness about the conservation significance of the species; population monitoring and deposition of seeds to the National Seed Genebank in Bulgaria.
References. Georgiev & Kitanov 1939; Stojanov et al. 1967.
Author: Vladimir Vladimirov
