the rarest and the worst threatened plant
species in the Transylvanian region
This beautiful species is a component of the
typical subgenus Centaurea
L. which probably contains the most primitive
species of the genus. Its range is huge, from Transylvania up
to Pamiro-Alai (not Altai!) mountainous group in Central Asia but as
Tzvelev (1956) wrote in Flora USSR vol. 28 'it consists in fact of
small islands' which dissappear one by one. The species is very
sensitive to human impact upon the environment, especially
overgrazing and ploughing which destroys its habitat but also to the
destruction of mesoxeric bushes from the forest-steppe with
Amygdalus nana, Prunus spinosa, Crataegus monogyna etc
thorugh fire by shepherd.
In Romania and in the whole European
Union this species survives only in two small populations from Transylvania which
are totally isolated from the main range of the species
and which can be easily destroyed by over collection in a
few minutes. Therefore we will not publish here the precise
coordinates of them. Any researcher who needs to have a field
inspection of the population should ask us and if the reason is well
fundamented we will gladly conduct him or her to the spots.
Despite the aforementioned facts the species
is included solely on the Romania's national proritary species.
The
population from Boju-Iuriu de Campie
The
population from Bontida-Jucu
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