Potentilla montenegrina
Potentilla montenegrina Pant.
Rosaceae – Rose family
Conservation status. Critically Endangered [CR B2ab(ii,iii,v)]. BDA. Balkan endemic.
Morphology and biology. Perennial herbs with thick roots. Stem 30–80 cm high, curved at the base, ascending, with few leaves, branched above. Leaves ternate, basal and cauline leaves with long petioles, upper with short shortly petiolate or sessile. Flowers numerous. Sepals appressed hairy, green; petals nearly twice as long as sepals, golden yellow. Fruit compound, consisting of numerous, dry, oblong-oval nuts. Fl. VII–VIII, fr. VIII–X. Reproduction by seeds and vegetatively.
Habitats and populations. Meadows in coniferous forests and dwarf pine societies. Occurs very rarely in Rila Mts. Until 1975 only the locality in the Urdina River valley was registered. Recently some more localities have been found. Populations are fragmented, with few individuals.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Rila Mts (Urdina River valley, Haydushka River, Kirilova Polyana, Bukovo Bardo in direction chalet Makedoniya); 1500 – 1700 m alt.
General distribution. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, R Macedonia, Serbia.
Threats. Aridisation and warming of climate, increased grazing, destroying of individuals because of the active tourism, limited distribution of the species and small number of individuals per subpopulation.
Conservation measures taken. Protected species according to the national Biodiversity Act. The localities occur on the territory of Rila National Park, and Rilski Manastir Nature Park as well as in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Detailed investigation of the number and area of the populations, the biology and ecology of the species, the threat factors and monitoring of the state of the populations.
References. Markova 1973, 1984; Petrova & Vladimirov 2010.
Authors: Dimitar Peev, Sonya Tsoneva
