Hypericum thasium
Hypericum thasium Griseb.
Clusiaceae – St. John’s Wort family
Conservation status. Vulnerable [VU B2ab(ii)]. BDA. Balkan endemic.
Morphology and biology. Herbaceous perennial. Stems 15–30 cm, erect or decumbent, dull green to reddish brown, rounded, 2-lined, with black glands. Leaves sessile, linear-lanceolate to linear, obtuse, with black dots. Some leaves with short leafy branches in the axils. Inflorescences deltate to corymbose. Bracts lanceolate to cuneate, with dark superficial glands. Flowers erect. Sepals ovate-lanceolate, with sparse black dots. Bracts and sepals long-fimbriate at margin. Petals obovate, dentate at apex, with intramarginal rounded black glands. Stamens numerous, in 3 fascicles. Anthers yellow, each with a dark gland. Styles 5. Capsule oblong-ovate, with longitudinal linear vittae. Fl. V–VII, fr. VI–IX. Insect pollination. Reproduction mostly by seeds.
Habitats and populations. Grows in dry, stony and grassy places, scrub, often around water bodies. Forms populations with a small number of individuals.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Valley of Struma River (southern), Sredna Gora Mts (eastern), Rhodopi Mts (eastern), Thracian Lowland, Toundzha Hilly Country; up to 500 m alt.
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula, to the south of the Balkan Range (Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey-in-Europe).
Threats. Live-stock breeding; agriculture; urbanization; low population density; limited distribution.
Conservation measures taken. Protected species according to the national Biodiversity Act. Some localities are in sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Habitats protection and management; estimation of populations’ numerical strengths and areas of occupancy; research into the species’ biology, ecology and threats; designation of new protected territories; deposition of seeds to the National Seed Genebank in Bulgaria.
References. Jordanov & Kožuharov 1970; Panov 1975b.
Author: Valeri Georgiev
