Limonium cythereum

Koutroumpa, Konstantina, 2024, Limonium artelariae (Plumbaginaceae), a new endemic species and further taxonomic and floristic notes on the genus in the island of Crete, Willdenowia 54 (1), pp. 65-79 : 70

Limonium cythereum newly recorded for Crete

The endemic Limonium cythereum R. Artelari & Georgiou was until now known only from the islands of Kythira and Antikythira ( Artelari & Georgiou 1999; Brullo & Erben 2016), which are located SE of Peloponnese and between Kythira and NW Crete, respectively ( Fig. 6 ). Apart from the three known populations of L. cythereum on the S and E coasts of Kythira (Chalkos, Vrouleas, and Avlemon) and the single population on the N coast of Antikythira (Potamos), the fieldwork revealed the occurrence of L. cythereum in two localities in NW Crete (briefly mentioned in Koutroumpa 2020). The species was recorded from a small port at the E edge of the city of Chania (see, e.g., B [B 10 1163863]) and Kalathas beach, which is few kilometres NE of Chania (see, e.g., B [B 10 1163868]). Limonium cythereum is easily distinguished from the closely related L. sieberi Kuntze , which also occurs in NW Crete and co-occurs with L. cythereum at Kalathas beach, by its shorter spikelets, the hairy and shorter inner spikelet bracts and the shorter calyces. The current distribution of L. cythereum reflects the phytogeographical connections of Crete and Kythira and the paleogeography of the region during the Pleistocene (c. 0.8 Mya) when low sea levels during the glacial period reconnected islands with each other and some islands with the mainland (see maps in Valakos 2008).

Figures

Fig. 6. Distribution map of Limonium cythereum in Kythira, Antikythira and Crete.