Pinguicula dertosensis (Cañigueral)

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TAXONOMY:

Family : Lentibulariaceae

Genus : Pinguicula

Name : Pinguicula dertosensis

Sub-classification (Casper) : link

Publications : 

- Pinguicula grandiflora {Lam.} var. dertosensis {Cañigueral} published by Cañigueral in Collect. Bot. (Barcelona) 5 : 413 (1957)

- Pinguicula grandiflora {Lam.} subsp. dertosensis {Canigueral} published by O. Bolos and Vigo in Collect. Bot. (Barcelona) 14 : 99 (1983)

- [Pinguicula longifolia {Ram. ex DC.} subsp. dertosensis {(Canigueral) Schlauer}] published in Palmengarten 58:67 (1994)

- Pinguicula dertosensis {Cañigueral} published by G. Mateo Sanz and M.B. Crespo Villalba in Fl. Abrev. Valenc. : 430 (1995)

- Pinguicula submediterranea published by Zamora, R., Jamilena, M., Ruiz Rejon, M. & Blanca G. : "Two new species of the carnivorous genus Pinguicula (Lentibulariaceae) from Mediterranean habitats."  in Pl. Syst. Evol. 200 : 41-60 (1996) 

DESCRIPTION :  (In publication)

 

Hierba perenne, con aparato radical exiguo, que hiberna bajo la forma de yema, sin estolones. Hojas 6 - 9 (12), horizontales, aplicadas al substrato, petioladas, de margenes involutos; hojas de primavera - en la antesis - (2) 3 - 7 (9) x 1.5 - 2.5 cm, obovadas u oblongo-obovadas; hojas de verano - en la fructificacion - similares a las de primavera. Escapos 1 - 5, 5 - 13 cm, glandulosos. Caliz glanduloso; lobulo del labio superior (2) 2.5 - 3.5 mm, ovado-lanceolados o lanceolados, obtusos o subagudos; labio inferior hendido hasta 1/2 de su longitud o, a veces, hasta cerca de la base.Corolla (12) 13 - 17 (18) mm, de color violeta - a veces muy palido, casi rosado - ; labio superior de color violeta obscuro, con lobulos suborbiculares u obovados, obtusos; labio inferior mas largo, con lobulos de 5 - 10 mm, mas largo que anchos, obovados, que generalmente se recubren lateralmente, coloreados solo en la mitad distal, obtusos, el mediano entero o retuso; garganta de color violeta obscuro, excepto en la base del lobulo medio del labio inferior; tubo corto, anchamente infundibuliforme, esparcidamente glanduloso por el exterior; espolon (6) 7 - 12 (13) mm, cilindrico-subulato, recto, a veces ligeramente bifido en su extremidad. Capsula 2.5 - 4.6 mm, ovoide o subglobosa; semillas 0.5 - 0.6 mm, subglobosas o anchamente ovoides, reticuladas. 

 

Chromosomata : 2n=48   

 

Translation :

 

- soon - 

ORIGIN AND HISTORY: (with the usefull help of J. Steiger and Jan Schlauer)

 

Zamora et al. with a RADP-analysis (Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA) revealed a group of Pinguicula from southern Spain, including the Pinguicula population growing near Tortosa, to be distincly different from other species and published it under the name P. submediterranea (1996). But Cañigueral had already given the Pinguicula from Tortosa the name dertosensis (he considered them as a variety of P. grandiflora (1957), and later as Pinguicula longifolia subsp. dertosensis by J. Schlauer (1994).

 

"P.longifolia subsp.dertosensis from Central-East Spain has been rediscovered in the locus classicus by several researchers (Juerg Steiger in 1995, Joachim Nerz in 1994, myself in 1992), and at the Hoz de Beteta by Juerg Steiger (the plants identified by Casper as "P.vallisneriifolia" from central Spain belong to P.l.d.). "

Jan Schlauer, in CP digest, Mon, 18 Mar 1996.

 

In 1995 Sanz and Villalba gave it the rank of a species. 

 

"To give the specimens from the Tortosa region the rank of a distinct species has some good reasons."... "This population is very different as well as from P. longif. subsp. longifolia as well as subsp. reichenbachiana, somewhat but less different from P. longif. subsp. caussensis and rather similar (with exeption ot the spur and calyx) to the P. longif. 'Beteta' specimens."

Jurg Steiger, in CP digest,  Thu, 9 May 1996.

 

"Most unfortunately, the authors did not examine the population from Hoz de Beteta (supposedly belonging to Pinguicula longifolia subsp. dertosensis)"

Jan Schlauer, in CP digest, Wed, 8 May 1996.

 

This species was published under two names but even if Zamora's analysis of 1996 was more sophisticated, the international nomenclature rules give the name dertosensis priority against submediterranea.

 

"However, additional localities of Pinguicula between Tortosa and Hoz de Beteta were mentioned in the litterature, and it would
perhaps be interesting to visit these. Perhaps even the region between Rio Mundo and the range of Pinguicula longifolia subsp. dertosensis may yield surprises..."

Jan Schlauer, in CP digest, Mon, 18 Mar 1996.

 

After reading this, I am sure that you have many questions and maybe more than before !. I asked J. Schlauer to help me. Here is his opinion and my questions in blue. 

 

In the CP database, the name is still Pinguicula longifolia {Ram. ex DC.} subsp. dertosensis and not P. dertosensis.
Is it a rejected name ?

It is not accepted as a distinct species there (but considered a subsp. of P. longifolia like the plants from the Pyrenees, Massif Central, Roya Valley, Alpi Apuane, and Abruzzo mts.).

Not to accept a name does ***NOT*** mean to reject it. Names can only be rejected if they are used contrary to their original meaning (i.e. for a taxon not including the type specimen). Rejection requires a formal proposal and a vote by the appropriate nomenclatural committee at a Botanical Congress.

I am very well aware of a number of different views concerning these plants but I still prefer to follow Casper's concept to treat them as a series of vicariant subspecies belonging to a formerly more continuously distributed (W Mediterranean) species.

The second Mystery is about the repartition in Spain. 

According to the publication, it can be found from Central to east Spain, from Puertos de Tortosa (Tarragona) and Beceite (Teruel) until Sierra de Tejeda (Granada). The last occurance seems to be far from the other ones. Is it right or not that it is possible to find this species there ?

The limits in the SW part of its range are not entirely clear. There may be additional localities that bridge the gaps but I do not know any such records. Some field research (not only re-visiting known localities) is apparently required here.

The third mystery is about two populations (Tortosa and Hoz de
Beteta) : Here is a summary of what I found in www.
Zamora et al. with a RADP-analysis (Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA) revealed a group of Pinguicula from southern Spain, including the Pinguicula population growing near Tortosa, to be distincly different from other species and published it under the name P. submediterranea (1996).

Be careful here. The type of P.submediterranea is from the Sierra de Cazorla (where its range approaches that of P. vallisneriifolia).

But Canigueral had already given the Pinguicula from Tortosa the name dertosensis (he considered them as a variety of P. grandiflora (1957),

This is correct. The type of P.l.dertosensis is from Tortosa.

and later as Pinguicula longifolia subsp. dertosensis by J. Schlauer (1994).

This is just a new combination based on the same type specimen (and therefore using the same epithet) to indicate its closer affinities to P. longifolia.

In 1995 Sanz and Villalba gave it the rank of a species.
This species was published under two names but even if Zamora's analysis of 1996 was more sophisticated, the international nomenclature rules give the name dertosensis priority against submediterranea.

Yes. If they are considered conspecific (a concept that I follow) and distinct from P. longifolia at species rank (a concept that I do not
follow), the first validly published name for the taxon is P. dertosensis.

According to this, the plants from Hoz de Beteta and Tortosa are the same species.

At least for the time being they are considered the same taxon. Juerg Steiger already mentioned some differences, and some future splitting cannot be excluded.

I grow both at home and noted differences in the shape of the seeds capsule. The plants from Hoz de Beteta have a pear shape and the Tortosa have a pearl shape. 

It depends on the importance one wants do assign to certain
morphological characters. So far no formal distinction has been made between the two populations, but it would really not be a great problem to do so. I am just not overly inclined to attribute species rank to all populations of circum-Mediterranean tetraploid Pinguiculae. From what I have seen alone (and this is far from a complete picture), one could easily create dozens of new species this way (many of which growing in the same habitat) without any substantial gain of knowledge.
To complicate things further, P. grandiflora (likewise tetraploid)
appears to be more widespread than assumed previously (reaching at least S Spain; there is a specimen from Morocco in BC that Juerg Steiger explains with confused herbarium label but the specimen is mounted on the same sheet together with P. vulgaris,  which definitely does grow in Morocco), and this species is strongly suspected to hybridize successfully (producing fertile offspring) with at least P. longifolia subsp. longifolia.

So, the history is not finished....

Localisation / Map: 

From Central to east Spain, from Puertos de Tortosa (Tarragona) and Beceite (Teruel) until Sierra de Tejeda (Granada) according to publication.

 

- soon -

 

(click on the map for better location and relief map)

HABITAT:  

"HOZ DE BETETA"

On vertical calcareous cliff. The plants grow overhanging, the roots in the rock. In summer, the sun can reach the plants as the orientation is SO/NE. Even the smallest seedlings show at this time, a nice light red color. 

Introduction in culture :

I grow differents clones from seeds (Dionee) and from carnivorous plants nurseries from the following locations :

- Hoz de Beteta,  Prov. de Cuenca, northernmost part of the Sierra de Cuenca, Rio Guadiela, Spain. From Nature et Paysage nursery.

- Ports de Beseit W of Tortosa, Mt. Caro/Sierra de la Fortalesa, 500-600 m,  Prov. de Tarragona, Spain. From bestcarnivorousplants.com nursery. 

CULTURE AND MULTIPLICATION : 

(North hemisphere, France near Paris, in a garden - see the map -)    

 

Life cycle :  In spring, the cycle begins by the opening of the winter buds and the production of the first carnivorous leaves. The first leaves are followed by the flowers in summer. New carnivorous leaves are produced during all the season. The longest leaves occured after the flowering. Near autumn, or earlier, if your conditions are not optimal, the next hibernacula is revealed in the centre of the rosette. Then leaf production stops and the old leaves decay slowly. The plant (reduced now to a small hibernacula) is ready for winter and for the next cycle. 

 

Media : I use a 100 % mineral media : 2 perlite, 2 vermiculite, 1 small sand (for aquarium), 1 fine white sand, 1 pouzzolane (volcanic lava), 2 marly calcareous detritus. 

Pot : plastic, colour terracotta, diameter 12.5cm, height 12cm.

Cultivation :  The long term cultivation of temperate Pinguicula is difficult : If the summer growing conditions are not optimal, the plants will form very weak hibernacula which easily rot. 

Optimal summer growing conditions are : good air humidity, cool temperature and UV lights.

 

Multiplication : By seeds or using the gemmae produced around winter hibernacula. 

PICTURES: (click to enlarge)

Hoz de Beteta,  1200 m, Prov. de Cuenca, northernmost part of the Sierra de Cuenca, Rio Guadiela, Spain.

- more soon -

Ports de Beseit W of Tortosa, Mt. Caro/Sierra de la Fortalesa, 500-600 m,  Prov. de Tarragona, Spain.

This location is told by Jurg Steiger as the warmest. He also added that he was surprised to note that at one of the sites near Tortosa, he was surprised to find not one single plant which was not infested by Ustilago pinguiculae.