Bocconea 25: 5-127 doi: 10.7320/Bocc25.005 Version of Record published online on 9 July 2012 Werner Greuter Results of the Seventh “Iter Mediterraneum” in the Peloponnese, Greece, May to June 1995 (Occasional Papers from the Herbarium Greuter – N° 1) Abstract Greuter, W.: Results of the Seventh “Iter Mediterraneum” in the Peloponnese, Greece, May to June 1995. (Occasional Papers from the Herbarium Greuter – N° 1). — Bocconea. 25: 5-127. 2012. — ISSN 1120-4060 (print), 2280-3882 (online). The material collected during OPTIMA’s Iter Mediterraneum VII to the Peloponnese in 1995 has been revised. It comprises 2708 gatherings, each with 0 to 31 duplicates, collected in 53 numbered localities. The number of taxa (species or subspecies) represented is 1078. As many of the areas visited had been poorly explored before, a dozen of the taxa collected turned out to not to have been previously described, of which 9 (7 species, 2 subspecies) are described and named here (three more were published independently in the intervening years). They belong to the genera Allium, Asperula, Ballota, Klasea, Lolium, Minuartia, Nepeta, Oenanthe, and Trifolium. New combinations at the rank of subspecies (3) and variety (2) are also published. One of the species (Euphorbia aulacosperma) is first recorded for Europe, and several are new for the Peloponnese or had their known range of distribution significantly expanded. Critical notes draw attention to these cases and to taxonomic problems yet to be solved. An overview of the 11 Itinera Mediterranea that have taken place so far is presented, summarising their main results. Keywords: Flora of Greece, Peloponnese, Itinera Mediterranea, OPTIMA, new species, new com- binations, Allium, Asperula, Ballota, Klasea, Lolium, Minuartia, Nepeta, Oenanthe, Trifolium. Address of the author: Werner Greuter, Herbarium Mediterraneum, c/o Orto Botanico, Via Lin- coln 2/A, 90121 Palermo, Italy; [email protected]. Introduction Iter Mediterraneum VII, organised by the Department of Botany, Patras University, under the auspices of the Organisation for the Phyto-Taxonomic Investigation of the Mediterranean Area (OPTIMA), took place from 30 May to 15 June 1995. During slightly more two and a half weeks it visited parts of the Peloponnese, the southernmost part of 6 W. Greuter: Results of Iter Mediterraneum VII non-insular Greece. When planning the itinerary, the Organisers kept in mind the basic purpose of the Itinera Mediterranea: to explore areas little visited by botanists so far and poorly represented in botanical collections. In this, they fully succeeded. While on the one hand, by leaving aside the classical, floristically rich but well explored localities, they for- sook the collecting of several local but well known endemics, on the other hand they dis- covered no less than a dozen so far undescribed taxa and found new localities for several known ones, often expanding considerably their known distributional ranges. Speaking of Organisers, mention must be made in the first place of one who avoided the limelight of official responsibility but advised actively and knowledgeably from be- hind the scene: Dimitrios Phitos, head of the Department of Botany of Patras University and OPTIMA’s immediate Past President at that time. Georgia Kamari, his spouse, was in the lead of the Iter’s organising committee, of which the other members were Dimitrios Christodoulakis, Theophanis Constantinidis, and Anastasios Anagnostopoulos. All four, taking turns, acted as excursion leaders and guides for part of the excursion, assisted for four days (6 to 9 June) by Gregory Iatrou. All of them were members of the Department of Botany of Patras University, which served as the Iter’s headquarters and offered its in- frastructure and logistic facilities for free – a major asset when one thinks of the consider- able bulk of the material collected. A short history and synopsis of Itinera Mediterranea The plan to organise a series of annual botanical expeditions under the auspices of OP- TIMA took its origin in that Organisation’s Commission for Floristic Investigation, then placed under the active and enthusiastic leadership of Benito Valdés. Approved in princi- ple at the V OPTIMA Meeting in Istanbul in 1986, the plan was fleshed out at a meeting held in Sevilla in May 1987, to be made public in the following year (Valdés 1988a, b). The declared purpose of the Itinera Mediterranea has been: (a) to study and collect plants from poorly known areas, (b) to study areas which, while locally well known, have been but little explored by botanists at large, and (c) to enable young Mediterranean bota- nists to gain field experience in other Mediterranean countries. To promote the last named aspect, half the places for participants (6 for a total of 12) were reserved to “junior” bota- nists, who were in a way subsidised by the “senior” participants by paying, among them, for one third of the expedition costs against the two thirds funded by the seniors. Also, small grants were made available to junior participants by OPTIMA. The idea of these Itinera was well received and proved very successful. In spite of the cost and labour involved, 11 expeditions took place between 1988 and 2002, all extremely successful, last not least in terms of the amount and quality of material collected. The main stumbling block proved to be the handling of the material once dried (separation of duplicate sets, identification, labelling, packing, and mailing). This process often lagged behind by years, causing discontent and eventually loss of interest from side of some par- ticipants and the institutions supporting them. Yet, for anyone who (like me) had to handle that task, the reasons are obvious. My estimate is that, per expedition, at least one person- year was necessary to accomplish the task, which requires good technical and in part sci- entific skills. Bocconea — 25 7 As there is no complete record of all 11 Itinera Mediterranea that took place so far, and as indeed some information regarding them has never been published, I take advantage f the present opportunity to bring together in a single synopsis at least the basic facts. In or- der to do so, I had to rely on the help of several leaders or key players of past Itinera, which they unselfishly offered and to which I am much indebted on that account; to name: Gabriel Alziar, Nice; Gianniantonio Domina, Palermo; Stephen Jury, Reading; Dimitar Uzunov, formerly Sofija; Benito Valdés, Sevilla; Olja Vasić, Beograd; and Ernst Vitek, Wien. In the following account, excursion participants are listed only when there is no published report mentioning them. – Iter Mediterraneum I, SE Spain, 14 June to 1st July 1988. – Participants 10 + 3 organ- isers. – 3233 Nos collected; sets deposited at SEV, G, PAL, JBVN, RNG, B, BEOU, CAT, FI. Results published (Greuter & al. 1991; see also Valdés 1991). – Iter Mediterraneum II, Israel, 21 March to 6 April 1989. – Participants 8 + 4 organis- ers. – > 2000 Nos collected; sets collected; sets deposited at HUJ, G, PAL, B, SEV, RNG, TUB, SALA, CAT. Results published (Danin & al.1992; see also Valdés 1991). – Iter Mediterraneum III, Sicily, 29 May to 18 June 1990. – Participants 10 + 5 organis- ers. – 2502 Nos collected; sets (some still in Palermo) deposited at or soon to be sent to PAL, SEV, G, B, RNG, LIV, CAT. Results published (Raimondo 2004; see also Valdés 1996). – Iter Mediterraneum IV, Cyprus, 10 to 28 April 1991. – Participants 10 + 3 organisers. – >1700 Nos collected; sets deposited at CYP, JBVN, G, PAL, SEV; MAF, RNG, B, MA, MARSSJ, FI, UPA. Results published (Alziar & al. 1999; see also Valdés 1996). – Iter Mediterraneum V, Morocco, 7 to 29 June 1992. – Participants 12: F. Conti (Camerino), H. ’t Hart (Utrecht), S. L. Jury and R. G. Wilson (Reading), M. Lisci (Firenze), P. Mazzola and F. M. Raimondo (Palermo), C. Oberprieler and R. Vogt (Berlin), S. Peccenini (Genova), E. Rico (Salamanca), and G.J. Stark (Liverpool); + 4 organisers: A. Achhal, M. Fennane, M. Rejdali (all Rabat), and B. Valdés (Sevilla). – 2282 Nos collected; sets (not yet labelled) deposited at RAA, RAB, SEV, SALA, PAL, B, RNG, CAME, U, GE, FIAF, LIV. Account not yet published (information: B. Valdés in litt. 25 June & 3 July 2012). – Iter Mediterraneum VI, S Spain & E Portugal, 14 April to 2 May 1994. – Participants 10: A. di Martino, S. Fici, F. Merlo (all Palermo), T. Raus (Berlin), M. A. Mateos (Sevilla), R. Rutherford (Reading), M. Horjales (Vigo), D. Lakušić (Beograd), F. Conti (Camerino), M. A. García García (Madrid); + 4 organisers: F. Amich, E. Rico, M. Martínez-Ortega (all Salamanca), J. Paiva (Coimbra). – 1845 Nos collected; sets (not yet labelled) deposited at SALA, COI, PAL, B, SEV, RNG, BEOU, CAME, MA. No account published (information: E. Rico in litt. 26 June 2012). – Iter Mediterraneum VII, Peloponnese, 30 May to 15 June 1995. – Participants 13 + 5 organisers. – 2702 Nos collected; sets ready for distribution, to be deposited in PAL-Gr, UPA, B, SALA, BRNM, MA, BEO, W, etc. Results published here. – Iter Mediterraneum VIII, Calabria, 1 to 20 June 1997. – Participants at least 5: S. L. Jury (Reading), A. Rivero, D. Uzunov (Sofija), E. Vitek (Wien), R. Vogt (Berlin); + 3 8 W. Greuter: Results of Iter Mediterraneum VII organisers: G. Spampinato (Reggio Calabria), L. Bernardo, G. Cesca, C. Gangale, N. Passalacqua (Arcavacata di Rende), P. Campisi, G. Certa, C. Di Martino, A. Geraci, P. Mazzola, F. M. Raimondo, G. Scafidi, R. Schicchi (all Palermo).– 2003 Nos collected; sets (not yet labelled) deposited at PAL, CAT, RNG (Jury 2000), W, etc. Itinerary pre- view published (Valdés 1997), but no account (information: E. Vitek in litt. 2 July 2012). – Iter Mediterraneum IX, Bulgaria, 21 May to 7 June 1999. – Participants 8: G. Certa, A. Di Martino, F. M. Raimondo and G.