''Euphrasia salisburgensis'' is a plant in the genus ''

Euphrasia ''Euphrasia'', or eyebright, is a genus of about 450 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae (formerly included in the Scrophulariaceae), with a cosmopolitan distribution. They are semi-parasitic on grasses and other ...

'', in the family

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., ''Pedicularis'', ''Rhinanthus'', ''Striga'') were formerly included in the ...

Characteristics and distribution

It has a pan-European distribution occurring widely in base-rich sub-alpine areas. The variety ''hibernica'' has been known in Ireland since the late nineteenth century where it occurs on

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

rocks and sand

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

. It is distinct from the other Irish members of the genus in that it has a

glabrous Glabrousness (from the Latin ''glaber'' meaning "bald", "hairless", "shaved", "smooth") is the technical term for a lack of hair, down, setae, trichomes or other such covering. A glabrous surface may be a natural characteristic of all or part of ...

capsule, normally red-brown or bronze coloured foliage and un-contiguous leaf teeth. The subspecies ''E. s. subsp. schoenicola'' is endemic to

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...

.ArtDatabanken, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: http://www.artfakta.se/artfaktablad/Euphrasia_Salisburgensis_Subsp_Schoenicola_630.pdf

Ecology

As with other ''

'' species ''E. salisburgensis'' is a

hemiparasite A parasitic plant is a plant that derives some or all of its nutritional requirements from another living plant. They make up about 1% of angiosperms and are found in almost every biome. All parasitic plants develop a specialized organ called the ...

. Webb & Scannell in their flora of the BurrenWebb DA, Scannell MJP. (1983). The Flora of Connemara and the Buirren. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. found that it was closely associated with ''

Thymus praecox ''Thymus praecox'' is a species of thyme. A common name is mother of thyme, but "creeping thyme" and "wild thyme" may be used where ''Thymus serpyllum'', which also shares these names, is not found. It is native to central, southern, and western ...

'' and suggest that it may be a specific hemiparasite of this species. The subspecies ''E. s. subsp. schoenicola'' is instead thought to be a specific hemiparasite of the sedge ''

Schoenus ferrugineus ''Schoenus ferrugineus'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 kno ...

''.

References

salisburgensis {{Orobanchaceae-stub