Taxonomical identity of <em>Sarcocornia fruticosa</em> and <em>S. hispanica</em> in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

The recent description of Sarcocornia hispanica, from SE Iberian Peninsula evidences the notable morphological complexity of this genus. This species is quite close to S. fruticosa, as they both show an erect habit and lack of rooting stems. Besides, S. fruticosa has been traditionally recorded for the same geographical area of S. hispanica. However, the original description of S. hispanica did not include any mention about these two taxa would live together and which ones are the differential morphological characters. Our study aims to clarify their main morphological differences and to address two questions. Firstly, if two close species would be coexisting or secondly, if both species would not live together and then only one erect shrubby species should be recognised for the southeastern peninsular. Therefore, a detailed morphological study of these two species was carried out using vegetative and reproductive characters together with SEM features. Based on the original description, the main morphological features of S. hispanica were compared, plus other features which would support their identification. Our data pointed out the existence of a marked overlapping for most of the studied characters independently of the geographical procedence of the samples. As a result, no significant morphological differences have been found between both taxa, and S. hispanica is proposed as a mere synonym of S. fruticosa. La reciente descripción de Sarcocornia hispanica, para el sureste de la península ibérica, evidencia la notable complejidad morfológica de este género. Esta especie es muy próxima a S. fruticosa, ya que ambas tienen el hábito erecto y carecen de ramas enraizantes. Además, S. fruticosa ha sido tradicionalmente citada para la misma área geográfica de S. hispanica. Sin embargo, en la descripción original de S. hispanica no se indica si ambos taxones conviven y tampoco se aportan los caracteres morfológicos que los diferencian. El presente trabajo se centra en clarificar sus principales diferencias morfológicas, y dar respuesta a dos posibles hipótesis. En primer lugar, si estas dos especies coexisten, o en segundo lugar, ambas especies no convivirían y solo una especie arbustivas de hábito erecto, se reconocerían para el sureste peninsular. Para ello, se ha realizado un estudio morfológico detallado de ambas especies basado en diferentes caracteres vegetativos y reproductivos, junto con características obtenidas con MEB. Se han comparado los principales caracteres morfológicos indicados en la descripción original de S. hispanica, así como otros caracteres que apoyen la identificación de ambos taxones. Los datos obtenidos indican que la mayor parte de las características analizadas están solapadas entre ambas especies con independencia de su procedencia geográfica. Por tanto, no se han encontrado diferencias morfológicas entre ambos taxones, y se propone a S. hispanica como un sinónimo de S. fruticosa.

A new species ofArthrocnemum(Salicornioideae: Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae) from West Africa, with a revised characterization of the genus

“…Among these taxa, Arthrocnemum macrostachyum and Sarcocornia fruticosa are often found growing together in the Mediterranean area in the same ecological conditions associated with marshes and other saline supralittoral or inland habitats (Jalas and Suominen 1980;Kühn 1993;Guilló et al 2014;Sukhorukov, pers. obs.…”

Mediterranean Halophytic Flora and Vegetation in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal)

“…Most of these new species have been split from S. alpini and S. fruticosa, and, indeed, it is now thought that this latter species is not in fact present in Spain and Portugal (Rufo et al 2016). We have published our reservations regarding these new speciesi.e., whether or not they are stable since they could be hybrids or unstable polyploids (Guilló et al 2014)but believe that it is nonetheless important to include them in this chapter given that they derive from one of the most recent taxonomic proposals regarding the Peninsula's halophytic flora and so necessarily affect the syntaxonomy of this class.…”