Elytrigia atherica (Link) Kerguélen

Raab-Straube, Eckhard von & Raus, Thomas, 2024, Euro + Med-Checklist Notulae, 17, Willdenowia 54 (1), pp. 5-45 : 19-21

Elytrigia atherica (Link) Kerguélen

(≡ Elymus athericus (Link) Kerguélen = Elymus pycnanthus (Godr.) Melderis )

– Fig. 10 .

+ Cm: Crimea: Sevastopol, Kruglaya Bay (Omega Bay), 44°35'43"N, 33°26'54"E, 1 m, sea shore, 2 Aug 2014, Yevseyenkov (photos: https://www.plantarium.ru/page/image /id/400093.html [ Fig. 10A ], https://www.plantarium.ru /page/image/id/400094.html [ Fig. 10C ], https://www.plantarium.ru/page/image/id/400095.html); ibid., 13 Jun 2018, Yevseyenkov (photo: https://www.plantarium.ru /page/image/id/594550.html); ibid., Kamyshovaya Bay, 44°34'23.34"N, 33°25'34.82"E,seashore, 26Mar2020, Yevseyenkov (photo: https://www.plantarium.ru/page/image /id/649618.html); ibid., Kruglaya Bay, 44°35'43"N, 33°26'54"E, 1–2 m, sea shore, 19 Jul 2020, Ryff (photo); ibid., 19 Jul 2020, Ryff, Yevseyenkov & Kudrinskaya (YALT); ibid., Kamyshovaya Bay, 44°34'23"N, 33°25'39"E, 1 m, sea shore, 19 Jul 2020, Ryff, Yevseyenkov & Kudrinskaya (YALT); ibid., Kazachya Bay, 44°34'08"N, 33°24'49"E, 1 m, sea shore, 19 Jul 2020, Ryff, Yevseyenkov & Kudrinskaya (YALT); ibid., Streletskaya Bay, 44°35'39"N, 33°28'06"E, 2–3 m, sea coast, 19 Jul 2020, Ryff, Yevseyenkov & Kudrinskaya (YALT).

– This is a characteristic plant of sea shores. The taxonomy of the group of couch grass, united by the common English name sea couch ( Elymus pungens (Pers.) Melderis , Elymus pycnanthus (Godr.) Melderis , Elytrigia atherica and Thinopyrum acutum (DC.) Banfi ), is very confusing and requires further study. In the present note we adhere to the concept adopted in the Euro+Med PlantBase ( Valdés & Scholz 2009 +) and consider the plants we found under the name Elytrigia atherica . This species is native to the Mediterranean, W and C Europe, and the Black Sea coast of Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania ( Ciocârlan 1994, 2011; Valdés & Scholz 2009 +; Doroftei & al. 2011; Assyov & al. 2012; POWO 2023). In the Black Sea region it is rare and therefore it is included (as Elymus pycnanthus (Godr.) Melderis ) in the Red List of Bulgarian vascular plants and the Red Book of the Black Sea ( Dumont 1999; Petrova & Vladimirov 2009). For E Europe, sea couch is indicated as an alien species based on a single herbarium specimen from 1859 from an unknown collector from Kotlin island (city of Kronstadt) in the Gulf of Finland near Saint Petersburg. This find was cited in different sources under different names: Elytrigia pungens (Pers.) Tutin ( Tzvelev 1964), Elymus pycnanthus ( Melderis 1985) or Elytrigia atherica ( Tzvelev 2006) . For the Baltic region, hybrids with the formula E. pycnanthus × Elytrigia repens (L.) Nevski are mentioned ( Tzvelev 1964; Melderis 1980). To date, such plants have disappeared from the vicinity of Kronstadt ( Tzvelev & Probatova 2019), and there is no current information from the Baltic countries. In S Ukraine, sea couch was found in 1868 near the coast of the Tiligul estuary, and there is a relevant herbarium specimen in BRNU, identified as Triticum pungens Pers. (GBIF 2023) . However, in Vascular plants of Ukraine ( Mosyakin & Fedoronchuk 1999) this species is not indicated for the territory of the country. In Crimea, sea couch was first found by one of us (PY) in 2014 in the Kruglaya Bay of the Black Sea in the city of Sevastopol. Subsequently, the same plants were identified by PEY and AYK along the shores of other bays of Sevastopol – Kamyshovaya, Kazachya and Streletskaya. Their photos were shown in Plantarium (2007 –2023), but the identification of the plant caused difficulties. It was assumed that this was × Agrotrigia hajastanica (Tzvelev) Tzvelev – a rare intergeneric hybrid of Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertn. s.l. × Elytrigia repens ( Seregin & al. 2015). However, a more careful study convinced us that the plants from Sevastopol are identical with Elytrigia atherica from the Mediterranean. As in other areas of its range, in Sevastopol this species grows exclusively along the seashore. It forms a pure sward or communities of the class Juncetea maritimi Br.-Bl. in Br.-Bl. & al. 1952 together with Elytrigia elongata (Host) Nevski , E. repens , Phragmites australis (Cav.) Steud. and some other species. Without doubt, this is a species native to the flora of Crimea and, accordingly, E Europe.

L. E. Ryff, P. E. Yevseyenkov & A. Y. Kudrinskaya

Figures

Fig. 10. Elytrigia atherica – A: flowering plants; B: spike in flower; C: spike in fruit. – A, C: Crimea, Sevastopol, 2 Aug 2014; B: ibid., 16 Jul 2020, photographs by P. E.Yevseyenkov.