4. Taraxacum velebiticum Štěpánek & Kirschner, sp. nov. Type:— CROATIA. Jugoslawien, Velebit: nordöstlich von Karlobag am Felsgrat des Mali Bristovac in etwa 970 m Seehöhe, 7 Jun 1987, H. Melzer, cultivated from achenes JŠ 3163 as JŠ 4114, collected in 1991 (PRA, no. det. 33109, holotype; isotypes: PRA, no. det. 30976 and duplicates) Etymology:—Named after the moutain range of the Velebit, Croatia, situated along the Adriatic coast. Diagnosis:—Plantae T. pollinensi affines sed foliis terrae adpressis pallide canescenti-viridibus, petiolis conspicue alatis pallide viridibus, stigmatibus pallide luteis vel pallidissime luteo-viridescentibus, acheniis longioribus & pyramide tenui 0.9–1.5 mm longa differunt; a Taraxaco janchenii phyllariis involucralibus exterioribus numerosis laxe adpressis conspicue ciliatis, in parte distali saturate brunnescenti rubro-purpureis bene dignoscendae. Plants small but not slender, usually 5–8 cm tall at anthesis. Plant base with a dark tunic, with pale brownish to dirty whitish arachnoid indumentum among petiole bases. Leaves patent, usually tightly appressed to the ground (inner, later leaves often erect-patent), elliptical to narrowly elliptical or oblanceolate in outline, usually 3–6 cm long, 0.6–1.5 cm wide, light greyish green, not spotted, subglabrous or with very sparse arachnoid hairs, pinnatisect or pinnatipartite; terminal segment relatively large, most often 0.7–1.5 cm long, 0.6–1.7 mm wide, triangular in outline, quite often hastate to trilobed, with distal part ± broadly lingulate, slightly elongated, acute to obtusely acute, distal margin sigmoid to concave, usually entire or with a single short broad tooth with a shallow incision, basal lobules patent to subrecurved, acute, proximal margin ± straight, entire; lateral segments 3 (4) pairs, patent to subrecurved, relatively short, usually 4–8 mm long, 3–4 (–5) mm wide at base, acute, distal margin sigmoid to subconcave, entire or with a single short broad tooth, proximal margin ± straight (or subconvex to subconcave), often with a single perpendicular tooth; interlobes relatively broad, usually 2–4 mm long, 2.5–5 mm wide, entire or with 1–3 smaller acute raised teeth, margin distally raised, green or faintly bordered brownish-purplish; mid-vein ± pale; petiole winged to broadly winged (narrow in late inner leaves), usually 1–1.5 cm long, pale green. Scapes pale green, medium densely arachnoid, overtopping leaves. Capitulum relatively large, to 4 cm wide, ± flat to subconvex, sometimes not fully opening, yellow. Involucre ± truncate and (6–) 8–10 mm wide at base. Outer phyllaries 15–19, imbricate, loosely appressed, relatively short, reaching ca. 1/3 of the inner phyllaries, from the ovate-lanceolate outermost phyllaries to ovate to broadly ovate more inner, conspicuously narrowed in upper 1/3 to form a lingulate apex, usually 4–6 mm long, (1.5–) 2–3.5 mm wide, with contrasting colours, very pale, whitish green and (in distal 1/2–1/3) brownish redpurple, border white-membranous, 0.1–0.3 mm wide, margin densely ciliate distally, with hairs to 0.8 mm long, apex flat; inner phyllaries mid-green, 11–13 mm long, not variable in their width, apex ± flat, brown-purple. Outer ligules straight to distally arcuate, ± flat, striped purple-reddish grey-olivaceous outside, apical teeth black-purple, inner ligule teeth yellow to to orange-yellow. Stigmas pale yellow or very indistinctly greenish yellow, with a hyaline pubescence outside. Pollen present, pollen grains irregular in size. Achenes variously red to red-brown (reddish castaneous, red, light rusty red), 4.3–5.4 mm long, 0.85–1.0 mm wide, achene body ± distinctly ridged longitudinally, relatively densely spinulose and squamulose in upper 1/2–2/3, otherwise tuberculate (central achenes sometimes spinulose in upper 1/3, otherwise smooth), spinules erect-patent, acuminate, to 0.3 mm long, body subabruptly to subgradually narrowing into a thin cylindrical or subcylindrical cone 0.9–1.5 mm long, often with minute spinules on proximal half; beak 7.5–10.5 mm long; pappus dirty white to yellowish white, 4.5–5.5 mm long.—Agamosperm.—Fig. 7, 8. Diagnostic notes:—A species similar to T. pollinense Aquaro, Caparelli & Peruzzi (2009: 166) but having yellow to almost yellow stigmas (dark green in T. pollinense), longer achenes, longer cone (0.9–1.5 mm versus 0.7–1.0 mm in T. pollinense). From T. janchenii, it is distinct in having more numerous outer phyllaries with a very different coloration, and acute leaf segments. Distribution and ecology:— Taraxacum velebiticum is known from a single locality, and probably is endemic to the Velebit range (Fig. 15). It grows on limestone rocks and ledges. Its IUCN conservation status is estimated as VU. Specimens examined:— CROATIA: Velebit, NE of Karlobag, a rocky ridge of Mali Bristovac, 970 m, 7 Jun 1987, H. Melzer, cultivated as JŠ 3163, collected in 1989. (PRA, no. det. 30974), ibidem: cultivated from achenes of JŠ 3163 as JŠ 4114, collected in 1991 (PRA, no. det. 30976, isotypes).

Published as part of Štěpánek, Jan & Kirschner, Jan, 2022, Taraxacum sect. Erythrocarpa in Europe in the Alps and eastwards: A revision of a precursor group of relicts, pp. 7-52 in Phytotaxa 536 (1) on pages 19-21, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.536.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/6224353