Systematic treatment of Veronica L. Section Beccabunga (Hill) Dumort (Plantaginaceae)

Document Type : Original Article

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1 Botany department/ Faculty of Science / Fayoum University

2 Institute of biology and environmental sciences, Carl von Ossietzky-University, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany

Abstract

Veronica species mostly occur in damp fresh water places and in the Mediterranean precipitation regime. Members of this genus grow at different altitudes from sea level to high alpine elevations. They show a high level of polymorphism and phenotypic plasticity in their responses to variations of the environmental factors, a quality that allows them to occur over a wide range of conditions. A group with particular high levels of polymorphism is the group of aquatic Veronica L. species in V. sect. Beccabunga (Hill) Dumort. Here, we attempt to unravel some confusion in the taxonomic complexity in V. section Beccabunga. We recognize 20 taxa in V. sect. Beccabunga and explore the occurrence of V. section Beccabunga, mainly in the Mediterranean basin; especially in Egypt (Nile delta and Sinai), Turkey and Iran with each country containing 10 taxa, from a total of 20 taxa, and characterized by endemics, or near-endemic as Veronica anagalloides ssp. taeckholmiorum. The results confirmed that V. section Beccabunga is divided into three subsections Beccabunga, Anagallides and Peregrinae, which essentially can be differentiated by the absence or presence of a petiole.

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