Carlina acanthifolia subsp. utzka (Hacq.) Meusel & Kästner (syn. Carlina utzka Hacq.)

Taxonomy: Fam. Compositae// Genus: Carlina// Species: Carlina acanthifolia All.// Subspecies: Carlina acanthifolia subsp. utzka (Hacq.) Meusel & Kästner.

Determined as Carlina utzka Hacq. 1782, Pl. alp. carn. according to Flora SR Srbije VII (Gajić in Josifović, 1975). In Flora Europaea Vol. 4 (Tutin et al., 1976) this taxon is included within Carlina acanthifolia All. subsp. acanthifolia, while in The Euro+Med PlantBase (source: Greuter, 2006+) it is given a subspecific rank: Carlina acanthifolia subsp. utzka (Hacq.) Meusel & Kästner in Denkschr. Österr. Akad. Wiss., Math.-Naturwiss. Kl. 128: 374. 1994.

Lifeform: Acaulescent monocarpic perrenial; hemicryptophyte according to the Raunkiær system. Plants stay in vegetative stage for several years before flowering and fruiting at the end of the life cycle.

Distribution: Native from the Balkan Peninsula to Ukraine and Poland according to the distribution information provided by The Euro+Med PlantBase (source: Greuter, 2006+) and the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew).

Habitat: Rocky terrains, rock cliffs, edges and clearings of forests and coniferous plantations on stony/ rocky ground in the subalpine belt. Mainly found at high elevations in the subalpine belt starting at c. 1500 m. It can also be found sporadically as low as the mountain foot. At lower altitudes it is found mainly on calcareous soil.

Flowering period: Late summer to early autumn: AUG, SEP.

References:

Carlina acanthifolia subsp. utzka. Greuter, W. (2006+): Compositae (pro parte majore). – In: Greuter, W. & Raab-Straube, E. von (ed.): Compositae. Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published on the Internet https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/564c7c64-404b-4a88-b7b2-3fbc088e5fdb [Accessed 27.08.2022].

Carlina acanthifolia subsp. utzka (Hacq.) Meusel & A.Kástner. Plants of the World Online portal, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:983074-1 [Accessed 27.08.2022].

Rod Carlina L. Gajić, M. in Josifović, M. (1975). Flora SR Srbije VII. Srpska Akademija Nauka i Umetnosti, Beograd, pp. 180-183.

Tutin, T.G., Heywood, V.H., Burges, N.A., Moore, D.M., Valentine, D.H., Walters, S.M. & Webb, D.A. (1976). Flora Europaea. Volume 4: Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.