Yulian Marinov’s scientific contributions

Astragalus physocalyx Fisch. is a tertiary relict, critically endangered worldwide according to the IUCN criteria, included in the Bern convention and protected by the Biodiversity Act of Bulgaria. It was discovered in 1834, on Mladezhki Hill in Plovdiv, but this locality was destroyed during the development of a stone quarry. Later, another population was discovered in Bulgaria with only 20 individuals and one each in North Macedonia, Greece and Turkiye. The objectives of this study were to develop a protocol for rapid in vitro propagation of A. physocalyx and to reintroduce the species into its natural habitats. Almost two-thirds of all collected calyxes were empty and in vitro seed germination was most successful after mechanical disruption of the hard seed coat, or after repeated seed treatment with boiling and ice water. Plants were multiplied by direct organogenesis on MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L BAP + 0.2 mg/L NAA or with 0.3 mg/L GA3 resulting in 16.0 and 48.4 new explants per in vitro tuft, respectively, for a period of 2 months. In vitro rooted plants were easily adapted to soil mixture but needed several years in the greenhouse to reach size suitable for transfer into the wild. In April, 2018, thirty-six plants were planted outdoors: 18 in the only Bulgarian population near Kulata village and 18 on Mladezhki Hill in Plovdiv; the latter survived, branched, and in 2021, the largest bloomed. The “Locus Classicus” of the species can be considered restored as all plants are currently in good condition.

Cirsium eriophorum is reported for the first time to the Bulgarian flora. It was found in the Eastern Rhodope Mts, south of Strazhets village (Krumovgrad District), in the area of Mount Golata Chuka, adjacent to the Bulgarian-Greek border. The species occurs in middle high mountain pastures, in open Fagus sylvatica forests and along forest roads, mainly on serpentine substrates, at 900–1200 m altitude. The recorded localities are the southeasternmost limit of the species range in Europe. The article presents data on distribution, habitats and population of Cirsium eriophorum in Bulgaria. A brief review of the key features of Bulgarian representatives of Cirsium sect. Eriolepis is provided. The recently published phylogeny of Cirsium concerning the restoration of genera Lophiolepis and Epitrachys is also commented on.

Iridaceae 158. Crocus pallasii Goldb. Bu Rhodopi Mts (Eastern): , 250 m, 41°26’32.9”N, 26°08’18.7”E, 01.12.2023, coll. V. Trifonov (SOA 0663392). New for that floristic region.

The presented study describes some morphological and anatomical features of collected specimens of Sisyrinchium rosulatum E.P.Bicknell, from the first reported locality in Bulgaria. The isolated DNA sequences from the nuclear ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2 region and the chloroplast rpoC1 gene proved the recognition of S. rosulatum and excluded the previously noticed S. montanum and S. angustifolium.

In Bulgaria, Galatella cana was found only once near Lom town (Montana District) in 1892 and it had remained with an unconfirmed status ever since. A new locality, in the Thracian Lowland floristic region , was discovered in 2023, based on some misidentified specimens in the historical collection of Václav Stříbrný. The aim of the present article is to confirm the occurrence of G. cana in Bulgarian flora and to provide data of its only surviving population. An updated dichotomous key to the Bulgarian representatives of the genus Galatella is also presented.

New chorological data of Silene tenuiflora Guss. for the Bulgarian flora are presented. The species is recorded for the first time in Tundzha Hilly Country floristic region.

The taxonomic treatment and geographical distribution of Scrophularia bulgarica (≡ S. variegata var. bulgarica, Scrophulariaceae), a rare and enigmatic taxon in the Bulgarian flora, and application of its name have been revisited. A revised species description and comparison with its closest and nomenclaturally related taxa, S. rupestris and S. heterophylla subsp. laciniata, are given. For the last three decades in the Bulgarian flora, S. heterophylla subsp. laciniata has been considered within the circumscription of S. bulgarica and therefore its presence in Bulgaria was neglected. On the other hand, S. bulgarica is newly reported for Serbia, hitherto erroneously identified as S. laciniata.

Cirsium eriophorum is reported here as a new species to the Bulgarian flora. It was discovered in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains, in the area of the northern and eastern slopes of Golata Chuka summit, south of the villages Strazhets and Gorni Yurutsi (Krumovgrad district), adjacent to the Bulgarian-Greek Border. The species occurs in mountain pastures, in sparse Fagus sylvatica forests and along forest roads, at altitude 900-1200 m. https://icbotmyco.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/BOTMYCO-2022-Abstracts-Book.pdf