M. Debussche et P. Quezel, CYCLAMEN-REPANDUM SIBTH-AND-SM IN KABYLIA (ALGERIA) - IGNORED BIOGEOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE AND BLURRED TAXONOMICAL STATUS, Acta botanica gallica, 144(1), 1997, pp. 23-33
Isolated peripheral populations of species are worthy to study in an e
volutionary context. Their taxonomic status is often controversial. Cy
clamen repandum Sibth. & Sm. occupies a wide range from Var (southern
France) to Rhodes throughout Mediterranean Europe, but it also occurs,
very locally, in Africa (Petite Kabylie region in Algeria) with a few
populations whose conservation is at risk. Ambiguous until now the ta
xonomic status of these populations was precised thanks to statistical
analysis of foliar and floral morphology of a few cultivated individu
als and herbarium exsiccata. We defined and described this taxon as a
distinctive variety corresponding to var. baborense Debussche & Quezel
. Distribution and ecology of this taxon were described; its biogeogra
phical significance and its conservation were discussed.