Stipa valdemonensis (Poaceae), a new species from Sicily

Abstract

A new species of Stipa, endemic to Sicily, named Stipa valdemonensis is described here. The new taxon is related to Stipa crassiculmis. Owing to the small number of individuals observed, in few restricted localities only, it is assigned the IUCN threat status “vulnerable”.

Keywords:

• Sicilian flora
• Stipa
• Mediterranean islands
• taxonomy

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge Professor Paolo Colombo for his useful morphological analysis; Professors Pietro Mazzola and Werner Greuter for their suggestions and critical revision of the text; and the University of Palermo, the Fondazione Internazionale pro Herbario Mediterraneo (Palermo) and the Fondazione per la Flora Italiana (Florence) for financial support.