> Hopefully my second try got out unscrambled,
I have not received anything readable.
> if it didn't someone let me know and I'll send it again.
Yes, please do so.
> It's interesting to hear the macroceras/vulgaris debate
> especially in the light of other European species with
> obvious similarities to P.vulgaris. The situation has been
> further complicated by the publication of a "new" species
> from Italy a year or so ago,
Rather "or so":
TAMMARO & PACE, INF.BOT.ITAL.19:430 (1987).
> the proposed P.fiorii (I think
> that this is the correct spelling) is again not a million
> miles away from P.vulgaris.
It is some distance away from _P.vulgaris_, morphologically. I have visited
the locus classicus (Majella, Bocca di valle di Guardiagrele), and the
other reported site for _P.fiorii_ (Majella, Valle di Orfento), last year.
But I was very disappointed to find the protologue to be essentially
*wrong* in what I consider important details. I could not find the short
spurs as a common characteristic of this "new" species (they do rarely
occur on some flowers, but the same plants have also flowers with normal,
i.e. very long spurs). Even the flower illustrated by TAMMARO & PACE in
their protologue has a long spur, definitely longer than 2-3 mm! The
corolla lobes are quite variable, but they are almost always narrower than
described in the protologue, and I could not find flowers with overlapping
corolla lobes.
I was not able to discover the alleged similarity to _P.balcanica_, and
"P.fiorii" is IMHO simply conspecific with _P.longifolia
subsp.reichenbachiana_ which grows at several localities in the Abruzzo
Mts. (Rifugio della Lischia, Camoschiara!). _P.vulgaris_ does (rarely)
occur there, too; CASPER doubted this in his monograph, but I have found
rather convincing proof (from Mt.Pelone, Mti.della Laga). And I have seen
what has been called "P.reichenbachiana" formerly at the Mt.Focalone
(Majella) peak at approx. 2500 m asl (in the meanwhile, I think it is
rather unlikely that this is really _P.l.reichenbachiana_).
Jurg STEIGER, whom I met this Monday, thinks the southern populations of
_P.l.reichenbachiana_ might represent a taxon distinct from the northern
ones (from the Maritime Alps). But I am a bit skeptical because they are
linked by the population in Alpi Apuane (! which is rather polymorphic with
transitions to _P.leptoceras_?) to the southern populations in Abruzzo.
Anyway, these E French/Italian populations are much less separated than the
other subspp. of _P.longifolia_ (which are still very close to each
other...).
Kind regards
Jan
PS: Does anyone on the net have "P.vallisneriifolia" from the Hoz de Beteta
(Cuenca) alive/seed? Jurg STEIGER thinks this is rather _P.longifolia_.
If this was true, they might belong to the recently established
_P.longifolia subsp.dertosensis_ which is not too remote, geographically.
Anyway, an interesting plant (I would like to grow it).