Taxonomic remarks and distribution of Smyrnium dimartinoi (Apiaceae)

Smyrnium L., an Eurasian genus of the family Apiaceae, includes about 20 taxa of which only 7 are accepted at specific rank; among these, 5 are native to Europe (Tutin & al. 1968; Gomez 2003). In the Italian flora, the genus is represented by 3 taxa also occurring in Sicily (Pignatti 1982; Giardina & al. 2007); these are Smyrnium olusatrum L., S. perfoliatum L. and S. rotundifolium Mill. The last one has also been treated at the rank of subspecies under S. perfoliatum [S. perfoliatum subsp. rotundifolium (Mill.) Hartvig] (Strid 1986; Conti & al. 2005), or as a variety [S. perfoliatum var. rotundifolium (Mill.)Fiori (Fiori 1925)]. In Sicily, same populations related to S. perfoliatum differ from this taxon for both morphological and ecological characteristics, especially on the Madonie Mountains and the Mountains around Palermo. The study of the morphological characteristics – namely of the root, stem, and leaf – allowed to clearly distinguish these populations that, therefore, represented a taxonomically and perhaps even chorologically critical case, since similar plants occurring in Greece were described as S. rotundifolium var. ovatifolium Halácsy (Halácsy 1901). In Sicily the same population was finally described as a new species named Smyrnium dimartinoi (Raimondo et al., 2015) to commemorate Andrea Di Martino (1926-2009), professor of botany and director of the Botanical Garden and Herbarium Mediterraneum in the Palermo University. The occurrence of the new taxon related to S. perfoliatum – ascertained only in Central-Western Sicily and in Crete – has also been supposed in other countries of the Mediterranean Europe; this, owing to some critical specimens observed in PAL and PAL-Gr. In this contribution, the analytical key of S. perfoliatum group is presented. Furthermore, the geographical distribution of S. dimartinoi is specified after the study of selected exsiccata from other Italian and foreign herbaria. The results found in this research show that S. dimartinoi belongs to the Eurimediterranean element, spread in various countries of the Southern Europe, from Greece to Italy and Spain.