Senecio bosniacus

Senecio bosniacus G. Beck, or Bosnian ragwort, in Bosnian Bosanski starāčac, is a plant in the family Asteraceae (Compositae): aster family. This species was described after its allocation from the Bosnian population of the species Senecio thapsoides DC 1838 (synonyms: Cacalia verbascifolia SIBTH. & SM - Cineraria thapsoides).

Besides of morphological properties, the criterion for separating was the biogeographical disjunction also. The north boundaries of the area of the species is in the north of Greece, and until to Bosnia and Herzegovina there are no other populations. After that, in the literature on the flora of the southwestern Balkans it is noted just species Senecio bosniacus.

Description

Like other members of genus Senecio, Bosnian population of this plant is a perennial with a long roller and woody rhizomes. Stems are erect, about 40-70 cm high. They are gray-white and are gossamer-wooly tomentose, branched at the top, with a number of flower heads. The face of whole leaf is dark green, with nerve gossamer-wooly, whereas the reverse is off-white, too gossamer-wooly, on the edge of the shallow notched iii finely toothed, lower the long 10-25 cm and a width of 2 to 4.5 cm.

The leaves are elongated oval, at the top of the rounded or blunt pointed, and at the bottom gradually narrow in the long and wide stem. The middle and upper leaves on the stem are basically eared and envelop the stem.

This species flowers from June to September. The Brussels are sprouts are cylindrical, 15 mm long with the relatively long stem. Wrapping (involucral) leaves of yellow flowers are [...] or almost [...], 12-15 mm long and 2-3 mm wide; at the top are pointed and with a tuft of white hair. The edges are narrowly clear membranous. Achenes are light-brownish, with length to about 4-5 mm, and about 0.7-1.0 mm wide.

Ecology and distribution

Bosnian ragwort inhabits ash not rockery and rocks at altitudes of about 1,000 to 2,000 m. On the high mountains of Herzegovina in the basin of the Neretva river it is characteristic species of en demic plant communities with whitebark pine (Pinus leucodermis)

The species is endemic in Bosnian Dinaric mountains, while the type taxon was described in the mountains in Greece and Albania.

Within the genus 'Seneciothere are described several endemic species and lower taxa. Thus, within the aggregatesS. papposus (Reichenb.) Less was described taxon S. t. ssp. kitaibelii (Jav.) Cuf., endemic of Velebit, and in eastern Serbia and Bulgariaan speciesS. pancicii '' Degen, which has orange flowers.

Locus classicus: This species was described on the basis of studying specimens from Bosnia.