''Petrocoptis pseudoviscosa'', commonly known as falguera, is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

in the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Spanish province of Huesca, where it is only known from the Valle del Ésera in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

. Its natural

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 ...

is calcareous cliffs, crags and caves.

Distribution and habitat

''Petrocoptis pseudoviscosa'' is known from a single valley on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees Mountains. The total area of occupancy of the plant is about with locations scattered along about of the valley at altitudes varying between . The plants grow in crevices in inaccessible rocky outcrops, cliffs and caves. There are five populations, varying in size from about a hundred plants to a few thousands.

Ecology

Although cross pollination is normal in this species, the flowers can self-pollinate, and the seeds produced by this process have been found to germinate equally well as those from cross-fertilised flowers. Other plants growing in close vicinity to ''Petrocoptis pseudoviscosa'' include the ferns ''

Cystopteris fragilis ''Cystopteris fragilis'' is a species of fern known by the common names brittle bladder-fern and common fragile fern. It can be found worldwide, generally in shady, moist areas. The leaves are up to 30 or 40 centimeters long and are borne on fles ...

'', ''

Asplenium ruta-muraria ''Asplenium ruta-muraria'' is a species of fern commonly known as wall-rue (but which, as a fern, is not by any means closely related to common rue). It is a very small epipetric species, growing exclusively on limestone and other calcareous ro ...

'', '' Asplenium fontanum'' and '' Asplenium csikii'', as well as the herbs '' Lonicera pyrenaica'', '' Saxifraga longifolia'', ''

Chaenorhinum origanifolium ''Chaenorhinum origanifolium'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae. It is native to mountainous regions of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes ...

'', ''

Sarcocapnos enneaphylla ''Sarcocapnos enneaphylla'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Papaveraceae. It is native to southwestern Europe and northern Africa. It grows in rocks and crevices of escarpments, usually in limestone cliffs. Description ''Sarcocapn ...

'', '' Hieracium phlomoides'' and ''

Bupleurum angulosum ''Bupleurum angulosum'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is endemic to the Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain ran ...

''.

Conservation status

Because of its restricted distribution and the small number of locations at which it occurs, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the conservation status of this plant as " vulnerable", with the main threats it faces coming from quarrying of stone for road maintenance, and from damage to the plants by rock climbers. Seed predation is another problem, but if seeds successfully disperse to a new suitable habitats, the plant's ability to self-pollinate may be crucial to it in establishing a new population.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q38619130 Endemic flora of Spain Endemic flora of the Iberian Peninsula Caryophyllaceae Plants described in 1973