kingdom Plantae - plants »  divisio Magnoliophyta - flowering plants »  class Rosopsida - eudicots » order Malpighiales »  family Violaceae »  tribus Violeae > genus Viola > Viola sect. delphiniopsis 

Viola kosaninii (Degen) Hayek 

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Distributional Range:Native Europe SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Albania, Former Yugoslavia

Habitat: V. kosaninii is a true chasmophyte, inhabiting limestone and dolomitic cliffs at altitudes of 600 to 2500 m.  Occurrences in the gorges of the Treska river and its tributaries and also on Mt Jakupica. Its recent discovery on Mt Voras is a new disjunction and represents the southernmost limit of its distribution. It is also the first record for Greece. 

Notes: V. delphinantha is also discontinuously distributed in southwestern Bulgaria [Ali Botus (Mt Orvilos)], northeastem Greece (Mts Pangeon, Falakron), the Athos peninsula (Mt Athos), northcentral Greece (Mt Olimbos) and in the Peloponnese (Mt Chelmos) but its distribution is to the northcentral and northeast. V. kusaninii has a more northwesterly distribution. Both species represent ancient Tertiary Mediterranean mountain taxa. The existence of V. cazorlensis (the third species in sect. Delphiniopsis) in the Iberian Peninsula indicates an ancient link between the Balkan and Iberian floras which probably had a common "centre" on Gondwanaland during the Miocene upheaval and stage of differentiation of the Mediterranean basin. 

References:

1. Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening

2. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.

3. Vladimir Stevanovic & Kit Tan On the distribution of Viola kosaninii in the Balkan Peninsula Rozsifeni druhu Viola kosaninii na Balkanskem poloostrove Preslia, Praha, 72: 469-474, 2000 469