''Digitalis mariana'' is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

species in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Plantaginaceae Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...

. It is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

foxglove ''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves. ''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in shap ...

with

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

foliage and rose-red coloured flowers produced in summer. It is native to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Taxonomy

''Digitalis mariana'' was first described as a new species by the Swiss botanist

Pierre Edmond Boissier Pierre Edmond Boissier (25 May 1810 Geneva – 25 September 1885 Valeyres-sous-Rances) was a Swiss prominent botanist, explorer and mathematician. He was the son of Jacques Boissier (1784-1857) and Caroline Butini (1786-1836), daughter of Pie ...

in 1841. Although the ''

Flora Ibérica ''Flora Iberica: Plantas vasculares de la Península Ibérica e Islas Baleares'' ("Vascular plants of the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands") is a Spanish scientific journal specializing in botany. It was established in 1980. It is publishe ...

'' (2009) and the '' Plants of the World Online'' website (2017) consider it to be a valid, independent species, the ''

Flora Europaea The ''Flora Europaea'' is a 5-volume encyclopedia of plants, published between 1964 and 1993 by Cambridge University Press. The aim was to describe all the national Floras of Europe in a single, authoritative publication to help readers identify ...

'' (1976) and the ''Euro+Med Plantbase'' (2011) considered it to be two subspecies of ''

Digitalis purpurea ''Digitalis purpurea'', the foxglove or common foxglove, is a poisonous species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae, native to and widespread throughout most of temperate Europe. It has also naturalised in parts of North Am ...

'': subspecies ''mariana'', and subspecies ''heywoodii''. Two infraspecific

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

are accepted: *''Digitalis mariana'' subsp. ''mariana'' Boiss. *''Digitalis mariana'' subsp. ''heywoodii'' (Pinto da Silva & Silva) P. A. Hinz

Description

The two subspecies can be distinguished by their flower colour and the

indumentum In biology, an indumentum (Latin, literally: "garment") is a covering of trichomes (fine "hairs") on a plant Davis, Peter Hadland and Heywood, Vernon Hilton (1963) ''Principles of angiosperm taxonomy'' Van Nostrandpage, Princeton, New Jersey, pa ...

on their

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

. The

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

form has purple-pink flowers and short glandular hairs of only 0.3-0.4mm in length, ''heywoodii'' has flowers which are white, very rarely yellowish, sometimes with a pinkish line of various shades along the margin of the corolla, and the inflorescence is covered in longish, non-glandular hairs of 2-4mm. The nominate taxon is locally known in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

as ''campanitas'' or ''dedalera''. The Spanish name ''verdolobo'' has been recorded for the subspecies ''heywoodii''.

Similar species

Its native range it closely resembles '' Digitalis thapsi'', which was also remarked upon by the first botanist to distinguish it as a new species, Boissier. In the

dichotomous key In phylogenetics, a single-access key (also called dichotomous key, sequential key, analytical key, or pathway key) is an identification key where the sequence and structure of identification steps is fixed by the author of the key. At each point i ...

in the ''Flora Iberica'', it is keyed out to ''D. minor'', ''D. purpurea'' and ''D. thapsi''. ''Digitalis thapsi'' is clearly distinguished by having a very sticky

formed exclusively of yellowish, glandular hairs which are up to 0.6mm in length, and having leaves in the middle of the rosette which are clearly

decurrent ''Decurrent'' (sometimes decurring) is a term used in botany and mycology to describe plant or fungal parts that extend downward. In botany, the term is most often applied to leaf blades that partly wrap or have wings around the stem or petio ...

. ''Digitalis minor'', an endemic of the Balearic Islands, is not sympatric to ''D. mariana''. It is distinguished by having the capsule (fruit) clearly shorter than the calyx, a lower lip of the corolla with highly developed lateral lobes which are auricular (ear-like) in shape, clearly split down to the mouth of the tube. ''Digitalis purpurea'' is the most similar species, according to the ''Flora Iberica'' key, being separated from ''D. mariana'' by having a calyx with the

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

s ordinarily more-or-less recurved towards the corolla, sometimes arranged patently, and the corolla tube gradually tightening towards its base. In ''D. mariana'' the calyx has sepals which are patent or subpatent and the corolla tube abruptly tightens towards its base, distinguishing it from ''D. purpurea''. The capsule is equal or larger in length than the calyx, and the lower lip of the corolla has lateral lobes which are little developed, rounded, not auricular, nor split to the mouth of the tube, which distinguishes both these species from ''D. minor''. All three species are distinguished from ''D. thapsi'' by the indumentum lacking the long, yellowish, glandular hairs, being less sticky, and instead having silvery or greyish hairs, not all hairs being glandular -or when they are, these are all subsessile.

Distribution

Both subspecies are primarily found in the

Sierra Morena The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It stretches for 450 kilometres from east to west across the south of the Iberian Peninsula, forming the southern border of the ''Meseta Central'' plateau and providi ...

mountain ranges of the southern

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

, which extend from

. The nominate subspecies is more predominant in the east, the other to the west. The subspecies ''heywoodii'' has been recorded in Alto Alentejo in Portugal, and in Spain in the provinces of

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populatio ...

, Cáceres, Córdoba and Ciudad Real. In Andalucía it is found in the northeast(???) of the region, on the southern flanks of the Sierra Morena, where it is uncommon. The nominate taxon has been found in Badajoz, Córdoba, Ciudad Real, Jaén and

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, and perhaps also

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The ria ...

. In Andalucía it is found in the northeast, on the southern flanks of the Sierra Morena, where it is uncommon.

Ecology

Both subspecies grow in cracks in the stone in rocky areas. The subspecies ''heywoodii'' is most often found in fissures in

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

and slate. The nominate subspecies is usually found in more acidic soils, and often in rock falls, loose scree or among boulders. The specific phytosociological suballiance and alliance wherein both subspecies occur is called 'Rumici indurati-Dianthion lusitani', which is in the order 'Phagnalo saxatilis-Rumicetalia indurati', in the class 'Phagnalo saxatilis-Rumicetea indurati'. It is a characteristic species of this phytocoenosis. In this

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

it occurs together with these following characteristic species: ''Antirrhinum graniticum'' subsp. ''graniticum'', '' Antirrhinum rupestris'', '' Arrhenatherum fernandesii'', '' Biscutella bilbilitana'', ''Centaurea monticola'' subsp. ''citricolor'', ''

Centaurea pinnata ''Centaurea'' () is a genus of over 700 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding reg ...

'', '' Coincya leptocarpa'', '' Coincya longirostra'', ''Coincya pseudoerucastrum'' subsp. ''pseudoerucastrum'', '' Coincya rupestris'', ''Conopodium bunioides'' subsp. ''aranii'', ''Conopodium majus'' subsp. ''marizianum'', '' Crepis oporinoides'', ''Dianthus crassipes'' subsp. ''crassipes'', ''Dianthus crassipes'' subsp. ''sereneanus'', '' Dianthus lusitanus'', '' Digitalis thapsi'', ''Digitalis purpurea'' subsp. ''toletana'', '' Erodium mouretti'', ''Erysimum linifolium'' subsp. ''lagascae'', '' Festuca duriotagana'', ''Jasione sessiliflora'' subsp. ''tomentosa'', '' Scrophularia oxyrhincha'', '' Scrophularia sublyrata'', ''Sedum hirsutum'' subsp. ''baeticum'', '' Silene marizii'', '' Silene × montistellensis'' and ''Verbascum rotundifolium'' subsp. ''castellanum''.

Conservation

Both forms are legally protected in

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

, where they have the status of a 'taxon of special interest'. ''Digitalis heywoodii'' was listed as 'not threatened' in a 1984 national list of rare or endemic plants of Spain, but in 2000 it was listed as ' vulnerable' in the ''Lista roja de la flora vascular Española''. Both subspecies were included as 'vulnerable' in the

Regional Red List A Regional Red List is a report of the threatened status of species within a certain country or region. It is based on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, an inventory of the conservation status of species on a global scale. Regional Red ...

of Andalucía of 2005. The reason for this was that the different collection localities and populations in this region were small.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15316963 Plants described in 1841

mariana Mariana may refer to: Literature * ''Mariana'' (Dickens novel), a 1940 novel by Monica Dickens * ''Mariana'' (poem), a poem by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson * ''Mariana'' (Vaz novel), a 1997 novel by Katherine Vaz Music *"Mariana", a so ...

Endemic flora of the Iberian Peninsula