Edraianthus-tenuilfolius_8

Description:

Edraianthus tenuifolius (Waldst. & Kit.) A. DC., syn.: Campanula tenuifolia Waldst. & Kit., Wahlenbergia tenuifolia (Waldst. & Kit.) A. DC.Family: Campanulaceae Juss.EN: Grassy Bells, DE: Schmalblttrige KrugglockeSlo.: tankolistna vrica1.Dat.: June 11. 2020Lat.: 45.01966 Long.: 14.68603 (WGS84)Code: Bot_1307/2020_DSC03745Habitat: Stony pasture with scattered bushes and low trees; slightly inclined mountain slope, northwest aspect; calcareous, skeletal ground; dry, sunny, open place; elevation 170 m (558 feet); average precipitations ~ 1.200-1.400 mm/year, average temperature 12-14 deg C, Sub-Mediterranean phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil among rocks.Place: Adriatic Sea, southeast island Krk, upper Baka valley, next to waterfall Curak, Kvarner bay, Rijeka region, Croatia EC.2.Dat.: June 16. 2020Lat.: 45.00397 Long.: 14.68577 (WGS84)Code: Bot_1310a/2020_no-picturesHabitat: Stony mountain flats next to a shallow water pond; open, sunny, warm place; calcareous, skeletal ground; flat terrain; elevation 470 m (1.550 feet); average precipitations ~ 1.400-1.600 mm/year, average temperature 10-12 deg C, Sub-Mediterranean phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil among rocks.Place: Adriatic Sea, southeast island Krk, southwest mountain flats, north of Mt. Obzova; next to water pond Velika loka, Kvarner bay, Rijeka region, Croatia EC.Comments: Genus Edraianthus (rock bells, grassy bells) is small but very interesting. There are about 10 species described, however, taxonomy still lacks common agreement. If one shows a flowering Edraianthus to people and asks them, what kind of flowers it is, they almost certainly say, it is a kind of bellflowers (Campanula). Yet, it is not. Indeed, grassy bells resemble the bellflowers very much. The difference between both genera is in the way, how the fruit releases its seeds, which, of cause, cannot be verified looking at a flowering plant.In Slovenia we have two species of this genus: Edraianthus graminifolius and endemic Edraianthus tenuifolius. Both are rare plants, limited to very few places, protected by law and on the Red list. The former is distributed in Balkan peninsula and European part of East Mediterranean including Italy, while the latter is endemic exclusively in West- and South Balkan peninsula mostly along East shores of Adriatic and Ionian Sea. I've seen Edraianthus graminifolius only a few times in my life and I've never seen Edraianthus tenuifolius in my country.So, I was really happy to find Edraianthus tenuifolius on two places on the island Krk in Adriatic Sea, Croatia, where the plant is more common. On the first location near Curak, the only existing waterfall on the island Krk, there were tens of the plants. Unfortunately, most of them were already a bit over their full bloom phase. On the second location near the top of the highest mountain of the island named Obzova (569 m), there were hundreds of plants blooming on a flat stony ground. They were all small, with only a few bells, but surprisingly numerous. I took many pictures of them, unfortunately, without having a memory card in the camera. So, the beautiful experience remains confined to my memory.Pravilnik o uvrstitvi ogroenih rastlinskih in ivalskih vrst v rdei seznam, Uradni list RS, t. 82/2002 (Regulation of enlisting of endangered plant and animal species onto Red List, Official Gazette of Republic Slovenia, no. 82/2002) (2002). Enlisted in the Slovene Red List of rare and endangered species, marked by "R" representing a rare species.Ref.:(1) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 632.(2) ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameCache=Edrai... (accessed July 30. 2020) (3) W.K. Rottensteiner, Exkursionsflora fr Istrien, Verlag des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins Krten (2014), p 351.(4) N. Jogan (ed.), Gradivo za Atlas flore Slovenije (Materials for the Atlas of Flora of Slovenia), CKSF (2001), p 138(5) T. Selikar, B. Vre, A. Selikar, FLOVEGSI data base, The Jovan Hadi Institute of Biology ZRC SAZU, 2003; bijh.zrc-sazu.si/sl/zbirka/podatkovna-zbirka-flovegsi-fav... (accessed July 30. 2020)