engleski

Morphological variability in Dianthus sylvestris Wulfen s.l. on the Balkan Peninsula

Dianthus sylvestris complex includes ten subspecies whose delimitation is still challenging and full of controversy. Its important diversity centre is in the central Mediterranean area. Identification of D. sylvestris subspecies continues to be problematic due to great morphological variability between subspecies, and complex patterns of variation with respect to ecological preferences and geographic distribution. This study is focused on Balkan populations of six subspecies (D. sylvestris ssp. alboroseus, D. sylvestris ssp. bertisceus, D. sylvestris ssp. kozjakensis, D. sylvestris ssp. nodosus, D. sylvestris ssp. sylvestris and D. sylvestris ssp. tergestinus), which have been treated inconsistently in previous taxonomic accounts. Qualitative and quantitative morphological characters were examined on plants collected in the field and deposited in ZA herbarium. The multivariate analyses based on 15 morphological characters (2 qualitative, 5 continuous, 6 ratios and 2 meristic) were used to describe and identify patterns of morphological variation in D. sylvestris complex, including 461 individuals from 97 populations across the Balkan Peninsula. When considering the subspecies in two-dimensional ordination space, a separation of southern Balkan and northern Balkan subspecies along PC1 (27% of variation) was detected, as well as a vast amount of overlap along PC2 (19% of variation). Calyx length, petal denticulation, and number and shape of epicalyx scales turned out to capture the greatest extent of morphological variability between individuals. However, they should not be considered as taxonomically reliable, since individual values can fall within the variability range of several subspecies. Subspecies such as D. sylvestris ssp. nodosus, D. sylvestris ssp. sylvestris and D. sylvestris ssp. tergestinus, have similar morphologies and share parts of their geographic distributions, and cannot be clearly differentiated using quantitative morphological concepts. However, a different flowering period differentiates D. sylvestris ssp. tergestinus, suggesting it to be a sympatric taxon, which is supported by our preliminary results of genetic analyses. Therefore, we suggest treating D. sylvestris complex on the Balkan Peninsula as a single morphologically variable species, while only D. sylvestris ssp. tergestinus deserves infraspecific rank.

morphometric variability ; multivariate analysis ; subspecies

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