Search

SummaryThe taxa of the genus Paeoniain Italy need a thorough rearrangement of their taxonomy and geographical distributions.The genus Paeoniahas always shown bearing many controversies since it was establishment by Linnaeus (1753), who perceived the close relationships between the two units he described. Several authors have successively amended the genus. At the present, the Italian peonies are recognized essentially by the morphological features of their leaves; but usually the shape, the size and the number of leaf-segments is variable in the same population. On account of this, there were, in the past, a lot of uncertainties and some mistakes in their classification.The present study is based on both living populations and the dried collections of several herbaria; field investigation through continental Italy, Sardinia and Sicily was carried out by bio- metrical analyses and was supported by laboratory analysis and bibliographical investigations.As a result, we have identified:Paeonia peregrinaMill, s.s., a Balcanian- Turanian element with a separate area in Southern Italy, a few populations in Basilicata and Calabria.Paeonia officinaliss.l., a temperate element mainly in open habitat, with four taxa across the Alpine Chain and on the North and Middle Apennines: P. officinalisL. subsp. officinalis, from Piedmont to Friuli Venezia Giulia (except Trieste Karst), Apuan Alps and Northern Apennines; P. officinalisL. subsp. huthiiSoldano, with few populations in Liguria; P. officinalisL. subsp. italicasubsp. nov., on the Middle Appennines from Marche to Latium and Abruzzo; P. officinalisL. subsp. banatica(Rochel) Soó, on the Trieste Karst.Paeonia masculas.l., a eurimediterranean element of woody places, with two infraspecific taxa occurring in continental Italy, from Lazio to Calabria, in Sardinia and in Sicily: P. mascula(L.) Mill, subsp. masculavar. mascula, from Latium to Basilicata; Paeonia mascula(L.) Mill, subsp. masculavar. russoi(Biv.) comb, nov., occurring in Sicily and Calabria.Paeonia morisiiCesca, Bernardo & N.G. Passai., in Sardinia.

SummaryThree subspecies enter to Plantago majorL. In recent literature: P. majorsubsp. major, P. majorsubsp. intermedia(Gilib.) Lange, P. majorsubsp. wintert(Wirtgen) W. Ludwig. The first taxon is distinctive of dry and trampled on places; the second one is distinctive of moist places and the latter of coastal saline habitats. The recent discovery, in the mouth area of Lao river (Calabria, Southern Italy), of very big sized plants surely referable to P. majors.l., suggested to examine closely the variability of this species. These plants, identified as Plantago sinuataLam., show morphological and karyological (2n=12, 36) features, which deserve to distinguish this taxon from the three subspecies acknowledged up to now. Lamarck's specimen of P. sinuataconserved in P-LA is typified. The combination P. majorsubsp. pleiospermaPilger is accepted instead of P. majorsubsp. intermedia(Gilib.) Lange, incorrectly used until now. P. majorL. subsp. sinuate(Lam.) Peruzzi et N. G. Passai., stat. nov.is proposed, together with an updated partial analytical key for P. majorgroup.

A new species of Paeoniafrom Sardinia is described. It differs morphologically, ecologically and karyologically from P. masculasubsp. russoifrom Sicily, with which it was so far confused, as well as from other peonies of the P. masculagroup.