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Centaurea triumfetti All. ssp. adscendens (Bartl.) Dostal

Flora Europaea mesoxeric-mesic grassland species Central European Cirsio-Brachypodion, Arrhenatheretalia R34 habitats western Romania in the well preserved forest-steppe grasslands, so becoming very rare       This subspecies is a part of a complex of 12 subspecies which belong to Centaurea triumfetti All. a species with a wide west Palearctic range. The present one has a large Central European range and is present in Transylvania only in mesic well preserved meadow-steppe grasslands, never on calcareous rocks in low altitude mountains as Centajurea triumfetti ssp. stricta. Though Ciocarlan (2000) in his Flora of Romania says that ssp. adscendens is doubtfully present in Romania, the key characters as presented in Flora Europeaea vol. 4 pointed toward it in the Transylvanian populations we investigated. Pictures taken on May 2004 in my garden from Floresti, Cluj county upon plants which resulted from seeds collected in meadow-steppe grasslands from the upper part of Florilor valley, west of Boj-Catun, Cluj county in april 2001. They are of a low resolution. dr. Alexandru Badarau, alexandru@transsilvanica.com The following five pictures show a comparison between Centaurea triumfettii ssp. adscendens (left) and Centaurea triumfetti ssp. stricta (right).   Pictures taken in the meadow-steppe grasslands from between Bontida and Visea on Sarata-Hill on 31st of July 2005 dr. Alexandru Badarau, alexandru@transsilvanica.com Pictures taken in august 2009 south of Luna de Jos, Cluj county in a beautiful meadow-steppe grassland from the northern slope of Cocosu Hill. dr. Alexandru Badarau, alexandru@transsilvanica.com Photographs taken in August 2008 in a patch of meadow-steppe grassland placed between Boju railway station and the west side of Straja village which was recently transformed from a hayfield into a cattle pasture. In the very last three years the number of the ruderals there increased dramatically and the local population of Centaurea triumfetti ssp. adscendens decreased a lot. dr. Alexandru Badarau, alexandru@transsilvanica.com near Boju railway station, in the meadows from Straja Mare hill, Cluj county, JUne 2007 dr. Alexandru Badarau, alexandru@transsilvanica.com