Hieracium villosum
Hieracium villosum Jacq.
Asteraceae – Daisy Family
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Perennial herb. Stems 15–30 cm, leafy, with dense stellate and 6–10 mm long, soft simple eglandular hairs. Basal leaves oblong-lanceolate, entire to finely denticulate, undulate, long hairy, gradually narrowed into a winged petiole; cauline becoming smaller upwards, oblong-ovate to ovate, sessile. Capitula 1–4. Involucral bracts lanceolate, acute, long hairy. Fl. VII, fr. VIII. Apomictic species. Reproduction by agamospermous seeds and vegetative means (not effective).
Habitats and populations. Occurs in subalpine and alpine grasslands and rocky places, on limestone. The population in Central Balkan Range is strongly fragmented, represented by several hundred individuals in smaller or larger groups and occupying an area of a few hundred square meters.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Balkan Range (central – Kozya Stena and adjacent peaks), Rila Mts; at 1600–2800 m alt.
General distribution. W and C Europe (extending eastwards to Romania and Bulgaria), N Africa, N America (USA).
Threats. The small population size and low density. Tourist trails pass through some of the localities, hence tramping of the substrate and plants.
Conservation measures taken. All localities are included in protected territories (Kozya Stena Strict Nature Reserve, Central Balkan and Rila National Parks) and in sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Protection of the species under the national Biodiversity Act. Studies on the species biology and ecology and the impact of the particular threats; population monitoring and deposition of seeds to the National Seed Genebank in Bulgaria.
References. Sell & West 1976.
Author: Vladimir Vladimirov
