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Centaurea immanuelis-loewii

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Common name

-

Scientific name

Centaurea immanuelis-loewii Degen

Conservation status and threats

The species is PROTECTED in Bulgaria by the Biodiversity Act - it is prohibited to "picking, collecting, cutting, uprooting or any other manner of destruction of specimens in their natural range in the wild", as well as "possession, keeping, movement, transport, export, trade and offering for sale or exchange of specimens taken in the wild". These bans apply to "all stages of life of the plants"¹.

Listed in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria to the category "Endangered"².

Threats

Reduction of the population area as a result of highway construction (Golo Bardo Mt); exploitation of inert materials (Konyavska Mt); erosion; low reproduction and migration potential; specific habitat characteristics; restricted distribution³.

Description and identification

Centaurea immanuelis-loewii is a perennial herbaceous plant.

Stems 30–50 cm, simple and leafless above.

Leaves oblong lanceolate, pinnate, subglabrous; lobes 2–4 mm wide, entire or denticulate.

Involucre 15–20 mm in diameter, ovate-globose.

Involucral bracts triangular, decurrent, dark brown, with 4–6 silvery fimbriae on each side.

Florets dark purple, outer slightly longer than inner.

Achenes c. 4 mm long; pappus equal to the achene.

Flowering June-July, fr. July-August⁴.

Habitats and populations

On dry, stony places and screes with southern or southwestern exposure, on silicate. Participates in open, xerothermic plant communities. Populations are healthy and most often consist of 100–400 individuals, localized on restricted areas (ca. 300–1000 m²)⁵.

Distribution in Bulgaria

Znepole region (Konyavska and Golo Bardo Mts), Valley of Strouma River (Boboshevski Ruen Mt, Sandanski, Kresna, Oshtava village) and Southern Pirin Mts (Vlahi village); 100–900 m altitude⁶.

Map of distribution in Bulgaria of Centaurea immanuelis-loewii⁷ (the squares marked with red dots):

General distribution

Balkan Peninsula (Southwestern Bulgaria and Northern Greece)⁸.

Map of distribution of Centaurea immanuelis-loewii in Greece⁹ (the areas colored in green):

References

1 Bulgarian Biodiversity Act in english.

2 Svetlana Bancheva. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

3 Svetlana Bancheva. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

4 Svetlana Bancheva. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

5 Svetlana Bancheva. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

6 Svetlana Bancheva. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

7 Svetlana Bancheva. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

8 Svetlana Bancheva. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

9 Centaurea immanuelis-loewii Degen | Flora of Greece.