Abstract
A new heterostylous species, Linum katiae, is described from Calabria (southern Italy). This species differs from the closely related Linum alpinum − occurring in Alps and Apennines − by leaf width (3.1 ± 0.5 mm vs. 1.6 ± 0.4 mm), different flower color (bluish-white vs. blue), petals' size (25.8 ± 1.3 mm vs. 16.0 ± 4 mm), sepals' size (9.4 ± 0.7 mm vs. 6.1 ± 1.2 mm), and stigma shape (2.5 vs. 1.4–1.5 length/width ratio). The taxonomic relationships of the new species with Linum perenne group representatives (L. alpinum, Linum austriacum, Linum punctatum) and with other sect. Linum taxa (i.e. Linum narbonense) are discussed.
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Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the curators of Herbarium of Calabria University (CLU), Herbarium Centrale Italicum (FI) and Herbarium Horti Pisani (PI) for their kind help. Financial funding (EX60%) from University of Pisa is gratefully acknowledged. Many thanks go also to the two anonymous reviewers who much improved the quality of the manuscript, especially concerning the Latin diagnosis.