Schivereckia doerfleri
Schivereckia doerfleri (Wettst.) Bornm.
Brassicaceae – Cabbage family
Conservation status. Critically Endangered [CR B1ab(iii)]. BDA.
Morphology and biology. Herbaceous laxly caespitose perennial. Flowering stems 5–15 cm, usually not branched. Leaves oblanceolate, usually entire, with branched hairs; basal forming a rosette. Flowers small, up to 15, in a terminal raceme. Petals white. Fruit a silicula, with a very short style and a 2-lobed stigma. Fl. VI–VII, fr. VII–VIII. Reproduction by seeds.
Habitats and populations. Grows in calcareous, open rocky and stony places on shallow and eroded soil. Occurs in the high mountainous belt.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Balkan Range (central – region of Botev peak); about 2300 m alt.
General distribution. Balkan Peninsula (Albania, Bulgaria, R Macedonia, Kosovo).
Threats. Habitat and population changes are caused mainly by natural disasters and to a less extent by human activities. These factors together with the very limited distribution of the taxon in Bulgaria threaten the species with extinction.
Conservation measures taken. Protected species according to the national Biodiversity Act. The population is in the Central Balkan National Park and in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Population monitoring aimed at the optimization of the species protection regime; experimental work and elaboration of technologies for ex situ cultivation of the species in alpine gardens with consequent re-introduction of the taxon in its natural habitats.
Note. The species was first reported for the country by Velenovský (1905) based on material collected by Adamovič from Central Balkan Range, the region of Yumrukchal peak (= Botev peak). Dimitrov (1997) confirmed the occurrence of Schivereckia doerfleri in Bulgaria based on material collected by Prof. B. Kitanov in 1945 from the same region.
References. Velenovský 1905; Vălev 1970; Chater 1993; Jalas et al. 1996; Dimitrov 1997; Ančev 2007.
Authors: Valentina Goranova & Mincho Anchev
