Kaszab Zoltán (szerk.): A Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum évkönyve 71. (Budapest 1979)

Szujkó-Lacza, J., Kováts, D. ; Rajczy, M.: Revision and numerical evaluation of the Hungarian Spergularia species (Caryophyllaceae)

ANNALES HISTORICO-NATURALES MUSEI NATIONALIS HUNGARICI Tomus 71. Budapest 1979. Revision and Numerical Evaluation of the Hungarian Spergularia Species (Caryophyllaceae) by J. SZUJKÓ-LACZA, D. KOVÁTS & M. RAJCZY, Budapest Abstract — Authors clarified the correct name of the three Spergularia species: S. media (L.> PRESL, 5. rubra (L.) J. et C. PRESL and S. salina J. et C. PRESL. The architecture and the reproductive organs of the species established that S. media and S. rubra have more own characters quali- and quantitatively also. S. rubra has larger adaptation ability to the habitats than S. media and this ability is reflected in the less determined architecture. S. salina seems to be an interspecific taxon: a hybrid between S. media and S. rubra, according to cluster analysis and the morphology of seeds. With 18 figures and 5 tables. Introduction — In connection with the identification of flowering plants of the Hortobágy National Park (HNP), we — SZUJKÓ-LACZA, FEKETE, KOVÁTS, SIROKI, SZABÓ (1980) — found different Spergularia species. First we thought that the identification of species would be problematical only from the morphotaxonomical point of view, but later we decided to make a complete revision, because nomenclatorial problems also arised. After recognizing these points first we tried to find the similarities and dissimilarities among the Hungarian Spergularia species and simultaneously studied the original descriptions of species. The Herbarium of our Hungarian Natural History Museum (Budapest) is rich in Spergularia specimens. Out of these we selected those, which were collected in the Carpathian Basin and on the Great Hungarian Plain. Considering the morphological problems we studied every specimen which were collected in these territories. Our present purposes are to clarify the morphological and nomenclatorial problems in Hungarian Spergularia species by means of the literature and the mathematical analysis of the architecture (cf. SZUJKÓ-LACZA & Szőcs 1975, SZUJKÓ-LACZA & SEN 1977). Material and methods First we studied the root and branches and the well-developed and ripe capsel(s) in every exemplare on the sheets. After this, from all the separated groups by us — independently from the denomination of specimens — we measured in one shoot the length of internodes, leaves (if any), the lateral branches, length of the axes of inflorescence; the length of peduncle in the flower situated between the two inflorescence axes or if none was present (usually aborted cf. LEBEL 1868) in the much more developed flower was chosen for this purpose, usually at the lower part of the axis; the length of sepals, petals and capsule. (These characters were measured in 15 or more specimens on different sheets in the same phenophase(s) i.e. in phenophases 24, 31, 32, 33 (41) cf. SZUJKÓ-LACZA & FEKETE 1973, SZUJKÓ-LACZA, KOVÁTS, ORBÁN, VERSEGHY, KOMÁROMY & HAJDÚ 1976). The base of separation was the morphology of seeds and the shape if stipule. Our null-hypothesis was that the three species can be identified by these two characters and that S. salina is an intermediate morphologically between S. media and S. rubra. The data are presented in Tables 1-3. Here we neglected, for example, the width of leaf, he number of stamens, the length and width of stipules, because in the dried specimens these characters cannot be exactly measured or numbered. 15 specimens each were measured this way in all three species. We used 14 characters: 1. the number of internodes; 2. the number of internodes with lateral branches per the total number of internodes; 3. the arithmetical mean of the length of leaf per length of internode ratios from the second to the penultimate internode (the first and the last internodes are much smaller than the others in most of the cases); 4. the length difference between the two main inflorescense axes; 5. the length of the peduncle; 6. the length of the sepals; 7. the length of the petal; 8. the length of the capsule; 9. the length of the capsule per that of the peduncle; 10. the length of the capsule per that Ann. Hist.-nat. Mus. Nat. Hung., 71, 1979