Sacred groves (SGs) are patches of natural vegetation traditionally protected by local communities for religious, cultural, or spiritual reasons. This study evaluated the phytodiversity and soil nutrient profile of four SGs in semi-arid Western Haryana, outside the protected area network. Quadrat sampling recorded floristic composition, species richness, dominance, evenness, and Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H'). Soil parameters included pH, electrical conductivity (EC), bulk density (BD), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and organic carbon (OC). Tree, shrub, and herb density was highest in Bidola SG, while basal area was greater in Sultanpur (19.77 m(2)/ha) and Dhingsara (15.51 m(2)/ha) than in Makrana Johra (7.69) and Bidola (4.49). Dominant species were Acacia tortilis (Bidola), Salvadora oleoides (Sultanpur), and invasive Prosopis juliflora (Dhingsara). H' ranged 0.61-3.26 for trees, 0.05-0.58 for shrubs, 0.39-0.88 for herbs, and 0.32-4.59 for climbers. Soils showed highest EC, N, P, K, and OC in Makrana Johra, maximum BD in Dhingsara, and highest pH in Bidola. Findings highlight that SGs of Western Haryana sustain notable biodiversity and soil fertility, but agricultural expansion threatens their integrity, requiring urgent conservation and community-scientist collaboration.
The present paper reports the first records of spontaneous micropopulations of Salvia hispanica in Tunisia. This finding constitutes the second official record of the taxon to the African continent and the expansion of its distribution range to the southern Mediterranean (North Africa). Morphological description, flowering-fruiting periods, together with information on local distribution and habitat traits as well as original photographs are here provided. Moreover, new distributional records of two more non-native Salvia are here reported for the first time as a result of extensive botanical surveys undertaken during the last two decades. A key to non-native species of the genus Salvia reported for Tunisia is also proposed.
Molinia caerulea meadows represent a well-known Natura 2000 Habitat with a large potential distribution area in Europe. As for Italy, at present they were recognized only in its Northern and Southern part. The present study analyzes for the first time a new Molinia caerulea plant community found in a karst montane plateau of Central Italy. Its floristic-sociological characteristics allow the authors to propose the new association Centaureo jaceae-Molinietum caeruleae, with two subassociation (-typicum and -caricetosum hostianae), along with one variant. Despite of these Purple moorgrass meadows show some affinities with some Western Balkan plant associations belonging to Trifolio-Hordeetalia, the study suggests that the new association should be better referred to the Molinietalia caeruleae order.
Turczaninow published in the mid-19th century at least 58 binomials (species-rank names) in Malvaceae sensu stricto. In their nomenclatural overview of Turczaninow's names in Malvaceae, Fryxell and Krapovickas (in 1990) reported several supposed holotypes of some names as "not located". Here we report the re-discovery of three holotypes of species-rank names published by Turczaninow in Malvaceae, viz. Malva mathewsii (now considered a synonym of Fuertesimalva peruviana), M. scorpioides (now of Fuertesimalva chilensis), and Sphaeralcea galeottii (now Phymosia umbellata), discuss the current taxonomic status of these names, and provide several miscellaneous nomenclatural comments on some other names of taxa of that family. We confirm our earlier conclusion that holotypes (if applicable) of names published by Turczaninow in his Animadversiones & mldr; series are normally deposited in the Turczaninow Memorial Collection (KW-TURCZ, now at the National Herbarium of Ukraine, KW), if not indicated otherwise in the protologue. We also report an additional isoneotype of the name Sphaeroma floribunda (now Phymosia floribunda) discovered at KW and comment on some previous type designation in view of our newly discovered holotypes. Digital images of four type specimens are provided. Further digitization tasks at KW are emphasized, especially in view of the current wartime threats.
This paper presents an update of the knowledge about the genus Carex in Slovenia, based on field investigations, herbarium revisions in LJU and LJS, as well as an analysis of literature data. Currently, there are 88 Carex species known in Slovenia, including two introduced ones. The occurrence of another seven taxa is considered doubtful. Particular attention has been paid to hybrids, which appear quite often in the genus Carex. Currently, there are 20 Carex hybrids known in Slovenia, while another one is doubtful. In this paper, an overview of 35 rare native Carex species in Slovenia and all 20 hybrids is given. For all these taxa a distribution map is provided.
