Stipa ucrainica
Stipa ucrainica P.A. Smirn.
Poaceae – Grass family
Conservation status. Critically Endangered [CR B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Caespitose herbaceous perennial. Stems numerous, 45–60 cm high, greyish. Leaves shorter than inflorescence, convolute, 0.5–0.9 mm in diameter, lower surface with 0.5 mm, subappressed hairs, upper surface shortly hairy; ligules of the basal leaves 1–2 mm, of the upper leaves 5–6(8) mm. Inflorescence paniculate, 10–15 cm long, narrow, with 5–7 spikelets. Glumes subequal, acute; lemma 17–19(21) mm, with 7 lines of hairs above, the longest (ventral) line ending 2–4 mm below the base of the awn. Awn 25–35 cm, with 5–6 mm long hairs. Fl. V–VI, fr. VI. Wind pollination. Reproduction by seeds.
Habitats and populations. Grows in grasslands on shallow soils. More mesophytic than the other Bulgarian species of Stipa. In one of the known localities that covers an area of ca. 3 ha, the species is a dominant in the community Stipo ucrainicae-Festucetum valesiacae Dichoru 1970.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Black Sea Coast (Northern – between Kaliakra cape and Tyulenovo and Gorun villages; Southern – above Kableshkovo village and Sunny Beach resort); up to 150 m alt.
General distribution. S Ukraine, SW Russia, northern slopes of Caucasus, Moldova, E Romania, NE Bulgaria.
Threats. Limited distribution; ploughing up of part of the localities.
Conservation measures taken. Three localities are within sites of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. The species was first recorded in Bulgaria in 2007, and therefore search for other localities is needed; legal protection of the species by the Biodiversity Act; collection of seeds for the National Seed Genebank in Bulgaria.
References. Martinovský 1980; Tkachenko 1996; Apostolova et al. 2008.
Authors: Antoaneta Petrova, Iva Apostolova & Tenyo Meshinev
