Pedicularis rostratospicata subsp. marsica (P. Sect. Rostratae, Orobanchaceae), a New Subspecies from the Central Apennines (Italy)

Abstract

The new subspecies Pedicularis rostratospicata subsp. marsica is here described based on morphological and molecular analyses. The new taxon is endemic to few localities of the Central Apennines within the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park (Central Italy). Pedicularis rostratospicata subsp. marsica can be distinguished from the other two currently accepted subspecies (subsp. rostratospicata and subsp. helvetica) by their taller stems, shorter petioles of basal and middle leaves, narrower blades of basal leaves, longer inflorescences with longer internodes and more flowers, and longer calyx lobes. Molecular analysis confirmed the autonomy of the new taxon. Furthermore, the conservation status assessment of the new subspecies according to IUCN categories and criteria is proposed and discussed, and an analytical key to the three subspecies of P. rostratospicata is presented.

Keywords: Abruzzo; National Park; endemism; molecular phylogeny; nomenclature; taxonomy.

Figure 1

PCoA based on the 20 morphological characters measured in Pedicularis rostratospicata populations. Green dots represent individuals from the Central Apennines (MAR), blue dots represent individuals from the Central and Western Alps (HEL), and red dots represent individuals from the Eastern Alps (ROS).

Figure 2

Hierarchical clustering of individuals of Pedicularis rostratospicata (ROS (Eastern Alps), HEL (Central and Western Alps), and MAR (Central Apennines)) using the Gower similarity index and the UPGMA cluster algorithm. The cophenetic correlation coefficient is 0.861.

Figure 3

Linear discriminant analysis based on 17 quantitative continuous characters (ROS (Eastern Alps), HEL (Central and Western Alps), and MAR (Central Apennines)).

Figure 4

Boxplots showing those statistically significant morphological characters among the three taxa; ROS (Eastern Alps), HEL (Central and Western Alps), and MAR (Central Apennines). The outlined central box depicts middle 50% of data, extending from the 25th and 75th percentiles, and the horizontal bar is the median. Ends of vertical lines (or “whiskers”) indicate minimum and maximum data values, unless outliers are present, in which case whiskers extend to a maximum of 1.5 times the inter-quartile range. Circles indicate outliers.

Figure 5

Ordination of a principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) of 11 OTUs of Pedicularis rostratospicata based on pairwise Jukes–Cantor distances calculated from AFLPseq fingerprint data (320 orthologous loci containing 3139 SNPs). While the first axis (PCo axis 1) explains 73.2% of the total variation, the second one accounts for 4.5%. Representatives of P. rostratospicata subsp. rostratospicata (ROS) are in red, those of subsp. helvetica (HEL) are in blue, and those of Apennines populations are in green (MAR).

Figure 6

Pedicularis rostratospicata subsp. marsica F.Conti & Bartolucci (Italy, Abruzzo, Mt. Marsicano (A) and Valle Cupella (B), photos by F. Conti). (A) Habitat and flowering plant; (B) inflorescence and flowers.

Figure 7

Holotype of Pedicularis rostratospicata subsp. marsica F.Conti & Bartolucci (APP No. 66181 and 66059, reproduced with permission from the Herbarium, Centro Ricerche Floristiche dell’Appennino, Italy).

Figure 8

Comparison of Pedicularis rostratospicata subspecies: (A) P. rostratospicata subsp. rostratospicata from Val di Fleres locality (Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, photo by F. Conti); (B) P. rostratospicata subsp. helvetica from Mt. Bianco locality (Italy, Valle d’Aosta, photo by F. Conti); (C) P. rostratospicata subsp. marsica from Mt. Petroso (Italy, Abruzzo, photo by F. Conti).

Figure 9

Distribution map of Pedicularis rostratospicata according to the herbarium materials studied: subsp. rostratospicata (red dots), subsp. helvetica (blue dots), and subsp. marsica (green dots).