Astragalus illyricus Bernh, syn.: Astragalus monspessulanus ssp illyricus (Bernh.) Chater, Astragalus illyricus var. wulfenii (Koch) Beck, Astragalus incurvus var. macroceras Koch, Astragalus soyeri Bunge, Astragalus wulfenii W. D. J. Koch, Astragalus dalmaticus Bunge ex Nyman, Astragalus monspessulanus L. subsp. wulfenii (W.D.J. Koch)EN: Illyric Montpellier Milk Vetch (?), IT: Astragalo illirico, DE: Illyrischer Tragant, CR: ilirski kozlinacSlo.: ilirski grahovec Dat.: Apr. 25. 2017Lat.: 45.01424 Long.: 14.67726Code: Bot_1050/2017_DSC00717 Habitat: steppe like flat terrain with scattered Pinus nigra trees, Juniperus oxycedrus bushes and Crataegus monogyna ground depressed low bushes; extremely stony, calcareous ground; full sun, dry place; exposed to strong winds and direct rain; elevation 440 m (1.450 feet); average precipitations ~ 1.000 mm/year, average temperature 11 - 13 deg C, (Sub)Mediterranean phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil in crevices among stones and rocks.Place: Island Krk; north of Obzova peak, 568 m (1.863 ft), about 100 meters away of the end of dirt road leading from the main road Krk - Baka (that is from the planted Pinus nigra forest on top of the ridge); Kvarner bay, Adriatic Sea, Rijeka region, Croatia EC.Comment: Astragalus monspessulanus is a beautiful, generally quite rare and endemic (Ref.:5) plant of dry, stony, lowland. Genus Astragalus comprises numerous, sometimes quite similar, species and subspecies. Determination to species and subspecies level is frequently not easy. Hence there exist so many synonym names. Taxonomically many consider this taxon on subspecies level only as Astragalus monspessulanus ssp. illyricus. According to GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) (Ref.:3) it is distributed mainly along east coast of Adriatic Sea with two disjunct occurrences in Italy and France (however, compared to Ref.: 4, 5 and 6 the information provided here seems quite incomplete). On the highest mountain ridges of island Krk the plant display itself in abundance as a marvelous decoration of interesting, white, mostly barren, stony landscape.Ref.:(1) R. Domac, Flora Hrvatske (Flora of Croatia) (in Croatian), kolska Knjiga, Zagreb (1994), p 190.(2) D. Aeschimann, K. Lauber, D.M. Moser, J.P. Theurillat, Flora Alpina, Vol. 1., Haupt (2004), p 848.(3) GBIF,
www.gbif.org/species/5346607 (accessed Nov.27.2017)(4) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 313. (5) Flora Croatica Database (FCD), Department of Botany, Faculty of science, FER-ZPR, University of Zagreb (2004);
hirc.botanic.hr/fcd (accessed Nov. 28. 2017)(6) L. Poldini, Nuovo Atlante corologico delle piante vascolari nel Friuli Venezia Giulia, University of Trieste (2002), p 69.
