Elatine gussonei (Sommier) Brullo et al. (Elatinaceae) in Sicily

Abstract

This study reports the Sicilian occurrence of Elatine gussonei (Sommier) Brullo et al., a rare and endangered species previously known only from Lampedusa, Malta and Gozo. The species was found on three localities near settlements Modica and Ispica (south-eastern Sicily).

Keywords::

• Distribution
• Mediterranean temporary ponds
• section Elatinella
• seed morphology
• wetland ephemerophyte

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank to Prof. Francesco M. Raimondo (Palermo) for providing literature, and to Dr Simonetta Bagella (Sassari) for the information on Elatine macropoda in Sardinia. We are very grateful to our anonymous reviewers, Dr Fred Rumsey (London) and Dr Gábor Sramkó (Debrecen), for improvements of our English, and to Nikola Rahmé (Budapest) for the seed photographs. Field work assistance of students (B. Kurnicki, Á. Lovas-Kiss, V. Löki and A. Takács) is greatly acknowledged. The work was financially supported by Grant TÁMOP-4.2.2/B-10/-1-2010-0024 project and by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland (project No. PO4C03525, AP).