TAXONOMY AND BREEDING SYSTEM IN A NEW SPECIES OF SCROPHULARIA L. (SCROPHULARIACEAE) FROM MOROCCO

A new species of the genus Scrophularia, S. fontqueri Ortega-Olivencia & Devesa, is described for the Western Rif mountains in Morocco. Simi larities and differences with the most closely related species (S. aur iculata Loefl, ex L. and S. viciosoi Ortega-Olivencia & Devesa) are in dicated, and ecological and distribution data are provided. The new sp ecies displays a high degree of polyploidy (2n = 56), and has palynolo gical characteristics similar to those of other species in this genus. The new species shows protogynous dichogamy and produces considerable amounts of nectar in both sexual phases. Nectar secretion was maximum during the early hours of the morning. Mean longevity of the flowers was 2.66 days. Both nectar secretion and floral longevity correlated s trongly with mean daytime air temperature. Pollination experiments sho wed that interaction with pollinators is necessary for reproduction, a nd gametophytic homomorphic self-incompatibility was documented. This feature was confirmed by observation of pollen tubes after hand self-p ollination. The seed/ovule ratio was very low. (C) 1998 The Linnean So ciety of London.