A NEW ALIEN SPECIES OF CLEMATIS (RANUNCULACEAE) TO THE BULGARIAN FLORA

Transcription

1 Доклади на Българската академия на науките Comptes rendus de l Académie bulgare des Sciences Tome 67, No 5, 2014 BIOLOGIE Botanique A NEW ALIEN SPECIES OF CLEMATIS (RANUNCULACEAE) TO THE BULGARIAN FLORA Vladimir Vladimirov, Antoaneta S. Petrova, Jerzy Zieliński (Submitted by Academician V. Golemansky on February 2, 2014) Abstract A new alien species to the Bulgarian flora is reported: Clematis tibetana (Ranunculaceae) which is native to Asia. In Bulgaria it has been recorded in the Black Sea Coast (Northern) floristic region and should be considered recently naturalised in the Bulgarian flora. The main distinguishing morphological characters of the taxon, its chromosome number (2n = 4x = 32), and some notes about the habitat and population are presented. Key words: alien plants, Bulgaria, Clematis tibetana, naturalised plants, Ranunculaceae, vascular plants Introduction. Recent studies on the alien species in the Bulgarian flora resulted in the discovery of numerous new taxa for the country [ 1 5 ]. Particular attention has been paid to the alien flora along railways and roads, especially in close proximity to border passes and international ports. This paper reports one more species Clematis tibetana which was discovered along a railway near Razdelna village, in the Black Sea Coast floristic region. In flowering and fruiting stage the species is an exceptional beauty and certainly deserves cultivation as an ornamental shrub. Material and methods. Plant material was collected by the first two authors along a railway track. Morphological characteristics were noted from the material gathered and compared with data from literature [ 6, 7 ]. Nomenclature and taxonomy of all other species mentioned in the text follow Delipavlov and Cheshmedzhiev [ 8 ]. Financial support of the Bulgarian Science Fund under project DO is gratefully acknowledged. 671

2 Chromosome counting was done on metaphase plates obtained from root meristeme. Seeds collected from the naturalised population were germinated in Petri dishes. Root tips were gathered and pre-treated with colchicin solution (0.01%) for ca. 90 min then fixed in acetic alcohol (1:3) for about 12 h at room temperature, hydrolysed in 1 M HCl for 25 min at 60 C, stained in Gomori s haematoxylin [ 9 ] for 30 min also at 60 C and finally squashed in 45% acetic acid. Results and discussions. Clematis tibetana Kuntze in Verh. Bot. Vereins Prov. Brandenburg, 26: 172 (1885) (Figs 1, 2). Climbing or procumbent shrub. Stems 3 5 m long, slender, glaucous-green when young, glabrous. Leaves pinnate, the lower primary segments usually ternate; leaflets glaucous, lanceolate to elliptic, cm, lobed in the lower half, acute to subacute at apex, with 0 2(4) teeth on either side, glabrous or with very sparse hairs on the veins on the lower surface. Flowers terminal and axillary, solitary, yellow, bell-shaped, nodding, often with rather widely spreading sepals. Tepals lanceolate to oblong, cm, acute to shortly acuminate at apex, sometimes slightly reflexed at apex at the end of flowering, glabrous outside, except along the margin, densely pubescent inside. Filaments 5 8 mm long, anthers ca mm. Styles densely villous, in fruit elongated, silvery-whitish in colour when ripe. Flowering July to August, fruiting August to October. Very easily distinguished from all other species of Clematis in Bulgaria by its yellow flowers. The Bulgarian material seems somewhat intermediate between C. tibetana and C. tangutica (Maxim.) Korsh. Its glaucous glabrous to subglabrous leaves and tepals densely hairy inside are characteristic of C. tibetana. However, some leaflets, mostly terminal ones, having 3 4 teeth on the margin of either side, resemble C. tangutica. Distribution in Bulgaria. Black Sea Coast (Northern): Along the railroad tracks at Razdelna shunting yard station, Varna district, N, E, 5 m alt., , coll. V. Vladimirov & A. S. Petrova (SOM ), , coll. V. Vladimirov (SOM , ) and , coll. V. Vladimirov (SOM , , ). General distribution. Clematis tibetana belongs to Ranunculaceae and it is native to northern Himalaya and the adjacent region of Tibet in India, Nepal and China. Some related taxa have been reported as alien to European countries, e.g. C. orientalis L. for Spain [ 10 ] and Italy [ 11 ], C. tangutica for Romania [ 12, 13 ], Czech Republic [ 14 ] and Great Britain [ 15 ]. Perhaps this is the first report of a naturalised occurrence of C. tibetana in Europe. Population and habitat. Altogether seven flowering and fruiting specimens were recorded, the largest of which reached ca m in diameter, and the smaller had only 3 4 stems, ca. 1 m long. The largest bush forms thousands of flowers which produce ripe and viable fruits. It has been noted that this plant flowers more abundantly every second year in 2009, 2011 and 2013, whereas in 2010 and 2012 it flowered too but with notably less flowers. The habitat of the 672 V. Vladimirov, A. Petrova, J. Zieliński

3 Fig. 1. Clematis tibetana the largest bush in the locality (photo by V. Vladimirov)

4 Fig. 2. Clematis tibetana flowering branch (photo by V. Vladimirov)

5 Fig. 3. Metaphase plate of Clematis tibetana (2n = 4x = 32) species includes the railroad and the railway verge EUNIS habitat J4.3: Rail networks. Other species that grew in close proximity were: Amaranthus albus, Artemisia absinthioides, Centaurea diffusa, Cephalaria transsilvanica, Chondrilla juncea, Clematis vitalba, Echium vulgare, Erigeron canadensis, Linaria genistifolia, Prunus cerasifera, etc. It is not known how and when exactly the species arrived at this locality. It does not seem that it was intentionally planted as ornamental since it is not very close to the railway station itself. It may have arrived accidentally with imported commodities from abroad since it is on a railroad connecting the ferryboat complex west of Beloslav town with the railway network of Bulgaria. Presence of three small individuals on an abandoned railroad close to the largest bush suggests they may have originated from the latter some years after the initial introduction. The size of the larger shrubs speaks in favour that the taxon is present in this locality for more than years. Seed germination. Seeds were collected from the locality and put for germination in Petri dishes. About 60% of the seeds germinated within 7 10 days which shows that the species forms viable seeds in the Bulgarian locality and has the potential to spread by generative means. Chromosome number. Chromosome number 2n = 4x = 32 has been established in five root tips, originating from five seeds (Fig. 3). Perhaps this is the first count of the chromosome number for the species. Alien status. Following the terminology and definitions suggested by Pyšek et al. [ 16 ], the species should be considered naturalised in the Bulgarian flora, since it survives in a man-made (railroad) and semi-natural habitat (railway verge) for more than years and has the potential for spread (already seven plants established, each of a different age and size) by both vegetative means and seeds without direct intervention by people. It is currently known with a single small population in Bulgaria. Despite the fact that thousands of viable seeds are formed each year by the seven plants, no seedlings were recorded in the locality yet. So far the species has been listed as naturalised in New Zealand [ 17 ]. Compt. rend. Acad. bulg. Sci., 67, No 5,

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