Cyanus austrobalcanicus subsp. prisadanus Skokanová.

Taxonomy: Fam. Compositae// Genus: Cyanus// Species: Cyanus austrobalcanicus Skokanová// Cyanus austrobalcanicus subsp. prisadanus Skokanová.

Determined according to the botanical key for the Cyanus tuberosus group provided in the study by Skokanová et al. (2019), which is accepted in The Euro+Med PlantBase (Greuter, 2006+). Previously, the members of the Cyanus tuberosus group were variously treated as different Centaurea or Cyanus taxa. In Flora Europea (Dostál, 1976 in Tutin et al.) the group was treated as Centaurea napulifera Rochel with five subspecies. More recently, Bancheva & Raimondo (2003) revised this group as part of the Cyanus genus – Section Napulifera comprising seven species.

Note: The plants from Osogovo show higher values for the internode length as reported by Skokanová et al. (2019).

According to the concept by Skokanová et al. (2019), two members of the Cyanus tuberosus group occur in the Osogovo region – Cyanus austrobalcanicus subsp. prisidanus Skokanová and Cyanus orbelicus (Velen.) Soják. Populations of both species are clearly morphologically and ecologically distinct:

– Cyanus austrobalcanicus subsp. prisidanus Skokanová: rootstock with crowded fusiform roots, rhizomes absent; florets purple; indumentum equal of both sides of leaves, plants green to gray-green; found in grasslands and clearings of European beech forests in the southwestern part of Osogovo – from Ratkova Skala to Ponikva at c. 1200 to 1500 m altitude; flowering May–June.

– Cyanus orbelicus (Velen.) Soják: rootstock distinctly rhizomatous with fusiform roots; florets white; indumentum denser than in previous species, plants densely greyish arachnoid hairy; found in subalpine pastures around the highest mountain peaks at c. 2000 m altitude and above; flowering June–July.

Lifeform: Perennial plant. Hemicryptophyte according to the Raunkiær system.

Distribution: Cyanus austrobalcanicus Skokanová is native to the Balkan peninsula – North Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria, while subsp. prisidanus is found in North Macedonia (Skokanová et al., 2019). According to Niketić et al. (2020), subsp. prisidanus is also found in Mount Rujan in Serbia.

Habitat: Pastures and clearings of European beech forests, in the region of “Ratkova Skala” massif to Ponikva, from c. 1200 up to 1500 m altitude.

Flowering period: Late spring – summer: MAY, JUN.

Locality: Osogovo, region between Visoka chuka (Ponikva) and Ratkova skala. Date: 08.06.2023.

*Cyanus austrobalcanicus* subsp. *prisadanus* – habit. Osogovo – region between Visoka chuka (Ponikva) and Ratkova skala, 08.06.2023. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

Locality: Osogovo, region between Visoka chuka (Ponikva) and Ratkova skala. Date: 21.05.2023.

*Cyanus austrobalcanicus* subsp. *prisadanus* – habit. Osogovo – region between Visoka chuka (Ponikva) and Ratkova skala, 21.05.2023. Photo by Trajche Dimitrovski.

References:

Bancheva, S. T. & Raimondo, F. M. (2003): Biosystematic studies of seven Balkan species from genus Cyanus (Compositae). Bocconea 16(2): 507-527. https://www.herbmedit.org/bocconea/16-0507.pdf [Accessed 04.01.2024].

Cyanus austrobalcanicus. 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 at https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/a21c74c7-b3a2-491d-8659-0f7adf8e1e3a [Accessed 04.01.2024].

Cyanus austrobalcanicus subsp. prisadanus. 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 at https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/afa0de19-8602-4880-96ec-0dbb689dd0da [Accessed 04.01.2024].

Dostál, J. 1976. Centaurea L. In Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A. (eds.), Flora Europaea. Volume 4. Plantaginaceae to Compositae (and Rubiaceae). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 254–301.

Niketić, M., Tomović, G., Anačkov, G., Bartula, M., Đorđević, S., Đorđević, V., Đorđević Milošević, S., Duraki, Š., Gavrilović, M., Janaćković, P., Kabaš, E., Kuzmanović, N., Lakušić D., Lazarević, P., Perić, R., Ranđelović, V., Savić, D., Stanković, M., Stevanoski, I., Stojanović, V., Vasić, O., Vukojičić, S., Zlatković, B. and Stevanović, V. (2020). Material on the annotated checklist of vascular flora of Serbia: Nomenclatural, taxonomic and floristic notes II. Bulletin of the Natural History Museum, Issue 13, pp. 87-169. DOI: 10.5937/bnhmb2013087N https://scindeks.ceon.rs/Article.aspx?artid=1820-95212013087N [Accessed 15.11.2025].

Skokanová, K., Hodálová, I., Mereďa Jr., P., Slovák,M. & Kučera, J. (2019). The Cyanus tuberosus group (Asteraceae) in the Balkans: biological entities require correct names. Plant Systematics and Evolution 305: 569 – 596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00606-019-01576-4 [Accessed 04.01.2024].

Last update: 15.11.2025.

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