In 1994 Jan Schlauer (hi Jan!) has detected, photographed and published a
specimen of the Barcelona herbarium, labeled as from Marocco (Er Rif
mountains, Beni Seddat, Aguersif), collected by Font-Quer, together with P.
vulgaris, in 1929. This one specimen shows typical characteristics of P.
grandiflora, but Jan himself mentions that a parallel sheet of the
Barcelona sheet, stored in Geneva, shows only P. vulgaris. Personally I
tend to doubt if the geographical origin of the Maroccan P. grandiflora
specimen is correctly labeled (in many herbaria unintentional mislabelings
are not rare at all). BUT if Jan is right and P. grandiflora really occurs
in Marocco (how did it get there?), fig. g3 might indeed also be a flower
of P. grandiflora, meaning that the authors R.P&S mixed up two rather
different species. The hairs of the flower throat pubescence (fig.c) are
practically identical with those of P. vulgaris (see S.J. Casper, Ping.
Monograph p.19, fig. 4 nr. 11).
P. vulgaris is a morphologically rather variable species with wide
ecological tolerance. I can't see significant differences between P.
vulgaris and the ' Maroccan endemism P. fontiqueriana'. Until I have seen a
better description, or living material, of this 'new species', I don't
believe it to be a distinct taxon.
Juerg
___________________________________________________
Juerg Steiger, Institut fuer Aus-, Weiter- und Fortbildung IAWF
University of Bern, Inselspital 37a, CH-3010 Bern, Switzerland
Office: +41 31 632 9887 Fax: +41 31 632 9871