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Aquilegia nigricans Baumg. ssp. subscaposa (Borbas) Soo

Flora Europaea perennial, H mesic saxicole calciphile from the upper nemoral and boreal belts the species is Central European - northern Balkan, the subspecies is endemic to the Apuseni Mountains and Oriental Carpathians in Romania Seslerietalia R3401 (Apuseni Mountains), R3611 (Oriental Carpathians)habitats It was believed to be an endemic species for the Apuseni Mountains (the calcareous massifs from the eastern part of them - Gilau Muntele Mare and Trascau Mountains) but recently it was also discovered in Rarau and Barnaru Mountains from the Oriental Carpathians. This disjunct range type at the level of the Romanian Carpathians is very much like the one of Astragalus roemeri Simk.       We do believe that this taxon is specifically distinct from Aquilegia nigricans Baumg.; also their ranges and ecological niches overlap in the Oriental Carpathians. Pictures taken in Cheile Pociovalistei, Gilau-Muntele Mare Mountains near Ocolis, Alba county, May 2006 dr. Alexandru Badarau, alexandru@transsilvanica.com