Hordeum geniculatum, native to the Iberian Peninsula, is recorded from the lower reaches of the river Ebro. This population constitutes a significant new record for Catalonia, although its presence over seventy years ago in the Maresme is testified by two herbarium sheets from Malgrat de Mar, where it is now probably extinct.Hordeum geniculatum, gramínea autóctona en la Península Ibérica, se cita en el tramo bajo del río Ebro. Esta población constituye una nueva cita de importancia para Cataluña, aunque se han detectado evidencias de su antigua presencia en el Maresme en dos pliegos de herbario recolectados en Malgrat de Mar, donde hoy día es probable que se haya extinguido

Pyke, S.

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Collectanea Botanica (E-Journal)

Collectanea Botanica 38: e002enero-diciembre 2019ISSN-L: 0010-0730https://doi.org/10.3989/collectbot.2019.v38.002AbstractHordeum geniculatum (poaceae) in the ne iberian peninsula.— Hordeum geniculatum, native to the Iberian Peninsula, is recorded from the lower reaches of the river Ebro. This population constitutes a significant new record for Catalonia, although its presence over seventy years ago in the Maresme is testified by two herbarium sheets from Malgrat de Mar, where it is now probably extinct.Key words: Catalonia; Ebro basin; ecology; Hordeum; Mediterranean; native species; taxonomy.ResumenHordeum geniculatum (poaceae) en el ne de la península ibérica.— Hordeum geniculatum, gramínea autóctona en la Península Ibérica, se cita en el tramo bajo del río Ebro. Esta población constituye una nueva cita de importancia para Cataluña, aunque se han detectado evidencias de su antigua presencia en el Maresme en dos pliegos de herbario recolectados en Malgrat de Mar, donde hoy día es probable que se haya extinguido.Palabras clave: Cataluña; cuenca del Ebro; ecología; especies nativas; Hordeum; Mediterráneo; taxonomía.Cómo citar este artículo / CitationPyke, S. 2019. Hordeum geniculatum (Poaceae) in the NE Iberian Peninsula. Collectanea Botanica 38: e002. https://doi.org/10.3989/collectbot.2019.v38.002Copyright© 2019 CSIC. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 In-ternational (CC BY 4.0) License.Hordeum geniculatum (Poaceae) in the NE Iberian PeninsulaS. PYKEJardí Botànic de Barcelona, Consorci MCNB, c. Dr. Font i Quer, 2, ES-08038 Barcelona, SpainORCID iD. S. PYKE: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8030-3519E-mail: spyke@bcn.catEditor: D. VitalesReceived 22 February 2018; accepted 4 May 2018; published on line 10 May 2019INTRODUCTIONHordeum geniculatum All. is an annual barley found in continental areas of the Mediterranean Region and West Asia, where it is native, and now naturalised beyond its native area in places such as California, the Southern Cone and Australia. The exact native range in the Mediterranean Basin and surrounding lands is difficult to establish, but it appears to be in expansion in some areas, particularly in Africa, and is known to be in regression in others, at the limit of its range; for example, in Slovakia (Dítě et al., 2012). Melderis (1985) considers this taxon to be a Euro-Siberian element, and gives its eastern limits as Central Asia, thus taking it out of the limits of what is considered the Mediterranean Region. Bor (1968), who offers a good illustration of the plant, gives an extensive list of countries and regions in his distribution notes, and considers it to be “occa-sional” in Iraq and “late dispersum” across the wider Collectanea Botanica vol. 38 (enero-diciembre 2019), e002, ISSN-L: 0010-0730, https://doi.org/10.3989/collectbot.2019.v38.0022 S. PIKEIranian region object of his more extensive work on the grass family.In the Iberian Peninsula this grass is local but widespread in the interior, in particular Castilla, Aragón and Navarra, but also in Portugal and An-dalusia, principally where the climate is continen-tal, with strong temperature fluctuations and irreg-ular rainfall mainly in the spring and autumn. The distribution can be considered sub-mediterranean, and the species is found growing both in lowlands and also at higher elevations, often near water-courses or ponds and lakes and in shallow, occa-sionally inundated depressions. It forms dense, often quite extensive populations, which are best observed during May and early June, flowering occurring from late April onwards in the areas closer to the Mediterranean Sea. It has also been found in the Balearic island of Mallorca (sheet BC 626199).Taxonomic history, discrimination and ecologyThe correct name at specific level has been the subject of debate. Willkomm (1893), in his Pro-dromi Florae Hispanicae, used Parlatore’s name: H. gussoneanum Parl. (Parlatore, 1845) which was published in Flora Palermitana. The earlier H. hystrix Roth was published in Catalecta Botanica (Roth, 1797), and this has been the preferred bi-nomen in the various catalogues and other publi-cations extant in the Iberian Peninsula until fairly recently. Flora Europaea (Humphries, 1980) also adopted this name. The binomen Hordeum genic-ulatum All. by Allioni (1785) in Flora Pedemon-tana is anterior to this, but considered ambiguous by some; as for example, Pujadas & Hernández (1986) or Feinbrun-Dothan (1986). This ambiguity seems to have been resolved recently, and both Eu-ro+Med (http://www.emplantbase.org/home.html) and Tropicos (https://www.tropicos.org) now con-sider Allioni’s name to be valid. Much confusion is evident, too, when this grass is treated at the level of subspecies. In Aragon, in the online flora (Pyke, 2005), this grass figures under the combination H. marinum Huds. subsp. gussoneanum, but citing Ascherson & Graebner as the combiners, following Bolòs & Vigo (2001), who mention the plant (which they state not to have seen) in reference to the Balearic Islands. The au-thor citation appears to have been a slip, having been confused, I suspect, with the combination H. maritimum With. subsp. gussoneanum (Parl.) Asch. & Graebn., published in Synopsis der mitteleu-ropäischen Flora (Ascherson & Graebner, 1902), referring to this same grass. This combination based on Withering’s 1776 publication (Withering, 1848) was also made by Arcangeli, in his second edition of Flora Italiana (Arcangeli, 1894), which predates that of Ascherson & Graebner, and should, in my mind, have priority. In California, the pre-ferred name is the combination H. marinum subsp. gussoneanum. James Smith, in the Jepson e-flora of the Jepson Herbarium (Smith, 2012), cites the authors of the subspecies as (Parl.) Thell., and this is the case also of various references of this grass from countries in and around its native area (Sahebi et al., 2004; Amer et al., 2013), whereas Euro+Med (Valdés & Scholz, 2011) refer to this combination with the authors (Parl.) Arcang., for reasons I have not been able to clarify, but are presumably due to Thellung’s (1908) publication being posterior to that supposedly published by Arcangeli (1882). Nonetheless, Arcangeli’s (1882) Flora Italiana did not even mention subsp. gussoneanum, which made its appearance in the second edition of this flora (Arcangeli, 1894). Here, however, the com-bination is based on Withering’s Hordeum mari-timum (q.v.). It seems, therefore, that Thellung’s combination is the most adequate, which is the pre-ferred author in the World Dictionary of Grasses (Quattrocchi, 2006). Hordeum geniculatum differs from the H. mu-rinum L. complex in the non-ciliate glumes of its central spikelet. They are, at most, scabrid. The plant itself is slender, more so than H. murinum subsp. leporinum (Link) Arcang., a common, more ruderal species which can often be found in the vi-cinity. Its closest relative, H. marinum, is a very sim-ilar-looking plant, but is distinguished by the inflated or winged inner glumes of the lateral spikelets. De-tail (B) in Figure 1. shows the thin glumes typical of the lateral spikelets of H. geniculatum. Another distinguishing feature is the longer (0.4)0.6–1(1.2) mm hairs on the lower leaf-sheaths in the case of H. geniculatum, which is generally a more slender and erect plant. Finally, the ecology of these two plants is slightly different, with H. geniculatum preferring the less saline soils of the floodplains and H. marinum occupying more saline habitats, and occurring not only inland but also by the sea. Collectanea Botanica vol. 38 (enero-diciembre 2019), e002, ISSN-L: 0010-0730, https://doi.org/10.3989/collectbot.2019.v38.0023Hordeum geniculatum (Poaceae) in the NE Iberian Peninsula.Hordeum geniculatum in CataloniaHordeum geniculatum All. [H. hystrix Roth; H. marinum Huds. subsp. gussoneanum (Parl.) Thell.] Spain (Tarragona), Ribera d’Ebre: Mora d’Ebre, ribera vers Sovarrec, 31T CF0152, 25 m, 15.V.2016, S. Pyke (BC 958302).Although not a new record for the north-east Iberian Peninsula, this large colony of Hordeum geniculatum on the banks of the river Ebro above Mora d’Ebre would appear to constitute the only present-day record for Catalonia. Its presence in this locality comes as no surprise, since it occurs in large numbers further up this important waterway. In Aragonese territory it is locally very abundant along the fluvial terraces near Zaragoza, and is re-corded as H. hystrix in the catalogue (Pyke, 2003) which covers the city and surrounding area. It also occurs further north in the lowlands of the upper Ebro Valley within Navarra and La Rioja. What is surprising is the lack of records up to now from the lower reaches of the Ebro within Catalonia. The grass was found growing on the rich alluvial soil of a flood-meadow (a level terrain subject to sea-sonal flooding). In some places it was so abundant that other annual species were unable to compete. Cerastium glomeratum Thuill., Geranium dissectum L., Veronica polita Fries, Bromus madritensis L., B. diandrus Roth and Vulpia myuros (L.) C. C. Gmel. were among the few other species seen among or around the population. These are ruderal species, and in this locality obvious halophytes were lack-ing. Closer to the town, the species was replaced by the more ruderal H. murinum subsp. leporinum, which has larger spikes and prefers drier soil con-ditions.On revising the considerable volume of her-barium material in BC and BCN, two sheets (BC 634091 and BCN 79581) came to light, both from Malgrat de Mar (Barcelona); one collected by P. Montserrat on 27 June 1946 and the other, which he collected with T. Losa, from the mouth of the river Tordera on 22 May 1949. Both were deter-mined as H. maritimum With. This synonym of H. marinum may have been used sensu lato by some authors (although Withering’s original description clearly refers to the plant with winged glumes), but no infraspecific indication is given on these sheet labels. The plants preserved on these sheets are, in fact, H. geniculatum, but it is extremely unlikely H. secalinum Schreb. is a perennial grass of wet, normally non-saline meadows. There are reliable records of this grass from the Ampurdan (Em-pordà) in NE Catalonia, where it tolerates the somewhat saline conditions of the lower river Muga meadows, and can be found together with Alopecurus bulbosus Gouan, another rare grass in the Iberian Peninsula. In dry years this bar-ley exhibits poor growth and could be mistaken for an annual species. It differs in its taller size, normally perennial behaviour, and in the narrower spike, held at some distance from the uppermost culm leaf, along with the fact that the awn of the lemma on the fertile spikelet is only about as long as the lemma itself (in H. geniculatum the awn is approximately twice the length of the lemma).Opinion is divided as regards the ecology of H. geniculatum. Dítě et al. (2012) explain it in terms of halophytic-ruderal plant communities, and state that in Central Europe it prefers the solonetz soils usually associated with a low or moderate salt content, although it can be found in highly salinized soils, such as solonchaks, and thus appears in different halophytic and sub-halophytic plant communities. The grass is referred to as an obligate halophyte in Dítětová et al. (2016), but in various Iberian localities it is found growing in non-saline conditions and with companion species that are not halophytes, or are, at most, facultative halophytes, such as Trifolium fragiferum L. (s. l.). In the Iberian Pen-insula H. geniculatum generally prefers the less saline soils of the riverine floodplains or wet hol-lows and depressions, whereas H. marinum oc-cupies the more saline habitats of salt marshes and their surroundings. The latter plant is found equally in coastal and inland sites, but H. genic-ulatum appears to be rare along the coast and has a marked interior distribution. In the case of Allioni’s taxon, it seems that fresh water is nec-essary for a part of its life-cycle, although the normally alluvial soils where it grows can dry out and become mildly saline. Talavera (1987) refers to humid meadows (“pastizales húmedos”) as its habitat in Andalusia, where it grows very locally, and my own observations bear this out, despite the comment in Flora Europaea (Hum-phries, 1980) stating ‘dry grassy places and dis-turbed ground’, which hardly reflects the reality of Peninsula populations.Collectanea Botanica vol. 38 (enero-diciembre 2019), e002, ISSN-L: 0010-0730, https://doi.org/10.3989/collectbot.2019.v38.0024 S. PIKEFigure 1. Hordeum geniculatum: aspect of culms in May, showing detail of (A) compound spikelet (triplet) and (B) one sterile lateral spikelet.Collectanea Botanica vol. 38 (enero-diciembre 2019), e002, ISSN-L: 0010-0730, https://doi.org/10.3989/collectbot.2019.v38.0025Hordeum geniculatum (Poaceae) in the NE Iberian Peninsula.that the plant still exists in this locality today, due to the destruction of the river Tordera estuary and the almost total transformation of this coastal re-sort area along with its beaches in the last seventy years. The botanist Pere Montserrat (Montserrat, 1989) collected the first sample from the edges of a pool by the beach (annotated in catalan: “platja, vores d’un toll”) during his valuable study of the vegetation of the Maresme area. The other one was found growing in the Tordera delta. The remaining material (of the marinum complex) from Catalonia all corresponded to H. marinum, or a couple of oth-er taxa.CONCLUSIONThis annual barley should be searched for in simi-lar habitats, usually close to permanent water sup-plies, where fresh water levels fluctuate, inundating the terrain once or twice a year. It also occurs in depressions and hollows subject to seasonal flood-ing. Combined with a moderate to high evapo-tran-spiration factor, the ground in these places suffers an increase in mineral salts during the dry season. The species may have been overlooked on occa-sions due to its similarity to other species, especial-ly to H. marinum, and is likely to occur in other localities on river terraces of the river Ebro and its tributaries. The main danger facing its conservation would be that of river defence construction, whose consequences are not always predictable, but gen-erally involve the disappearance of species accus-tomed to periodic flooding.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSTo the staff of BCN herbarium (CeDocBiv), D. Dítě (Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences) and another anony-mous revisor of this manuscript.REFERENCESAllioni, C. 1785. Flora pedemontana. J. M. Briolus, Torino.Arcangeli, G. 1882. Flora italiana (1st ed.). E. Loescher, Torino.Arcangeli, G. 1894. Flora italiana (2nd ed.). E. Loescher, To-rino & Roma.Ascherson, P. & Graebner, P. 1902. Synopsis der mitteleu-ropäischen flora. V. W. Engelmann, Leipzig.Amer, W. A., Hegazy, A. K. & Azer, S. A. 2013. Taxonomic revision of genus Hordeum L. (Gramineae) in Egypt. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation 5.4: 198–208. https://www.academia.edu/35443288/Taxonomic_re-vision_of_genus_Hordeum_L._Gramineae_in_EgyptBolòs, O. & Vigo, J. 2001. Flora dels Països Catalans 4. Edi-torial Barcino, Barcelona.Bor, N. L. 1968. Gramineae. In: Townsend, C. C. & Guest, E. (Eds.), Flora of Iraq 9. Ministry of Agriculture, Baghdad.Dítětová, Z., Dítě, D., Eliáš, P. & Galvánek, D. 2016. The im-pact of grazing absence in inland saline vegetation – a case study from Slovakia. Biologia 71: 980–988. https://doi.org/10.1515/biolog-2016-0125Dítě, D., Eliáš, P. & Grulich, V. 2012. The revision of histor-ical and current distribution of Hordeum geniculatum All. (Poaceae) in Slovakia. Hacquetia 11: 171–177. https://doi.org/10.2478/v10028-012-0008-zFeinbrun-Dothan, N. 1986. Flora Palaestina 4. Israel Acade-my of Sciences & Humanities, Jerusalem.Humphries, C. J. 1980. Hordeum L. In: Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Wal-ters, S. M. & Webb, D. A. (Eds.), Flora europaea 5. Cam-bridge University Press, Cambridge, London, New York & Melbourne: 204–205.Melderis, A. 1985. Hordeum L. In: Davis, P. H. (Ed.), Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands 9. Edinburgh Universi-ty Press, Edinburgh: 262–269. Montserrat, P. 1989. Flora de la Cordillera Litoral Catalana. Caixa d’Estalvis Laietana, Mataró.Parlatore, F. 1845. Flora palermitana. Società Tipografica, Firenze.Pujadas, A. & Hernández, J. E. 1986. Contribución al cono-cimiento de la flora arvense y ruderal de la provincia de Córdoba. Lagascalia 14: 203–225.Pyke, S. 2003. Catálogo florístico de las plantas vasculares de Zaragoza. Consejo de Protección de la Naturaleza de Aragón, Zaragoza. Pyke, S. 2005. Hordeum L. In: Atlas de la Flora de Aragón. Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología y Gobierno de Aragón, Jaca. Retrieved January 24, 2018, from http://proyectos.ipe.csic.es/floragonQuattrocchi, U. 2006. C.R.C. World dictionary of grasses. New York Botanical Garden Press, New York. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420003222Roth, A. W. 1797. Catalecta Botanica. Fasciculus primus. I. G. Müller, Leipzig.Sahebi, J., Rahiminejad, M. R. & Ghahreman, A. 2004. A tax-onomic review of the Hordeum marinum sensu lato (Po-aceae: Triticeae) in Iran. Iranian Journal of Science and Technology 28: 127–135.Smith, J. P. Jr. 2012. Hordeum marinum subsp. gussoneanum. In: Jepson Flora Project (Eds.), Jepson eFlora. Retrieved January, 2018, from http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflo-ra_display.php?tid=50968Thellung, A. 1908. Neues aus der adventivflora der Schweiz. Feddes Repertorium 5: 360–369. https://doi.org/10.1002/fedr.19080052111Talavera, S. 1987. Hordeum L. In: Valdés, B., Talavera, S. & Fernández-Galiano, E. (Eds.), Flora vascular de Andalucía occidental 3. Ketres Editora, Barcelona: 380.Valdés, B. & Scholz, H. 2011. Hordeum geniculatum All. In: Euro+Med Plantbase. Retrieved April 3, 2018, from www.emplantbase.orgWillkomm, M. 1893. Supplementum Prodromi Florae Hispan-icae. E. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart.Withering, W. 1848. A systematic arrangement of British plants (7th ed.). W. McGillivray, London.

Hordeum geniculatum (Poaceae) en el NE de la península ibérica

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Hordeum geniculatum (Poaceae) en el NE de la península ibérica

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