''Moehringia villosa'', commonly known as the short-haired sandwort, is a flowering plant of the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranth ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Slovenia where it has a very limited range with an extent of occurrence of less than in the southern parts of the

Julian Alps The Julian Alps (, , , , ) are a mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretches from northeastern Italy to Slovenia, where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia. A large part of the Julian Alps is inclu ...

. It grows in cracks in sunny, rocky and dry areas.

Habitat, distribution, and ecology

''Moehringia villosa'' is

to Slovenia, with a restricted distribution in the southern

and their foothills. Its known distribution area spans from its easternmost locality under Mt. Hoč above the village of

Podporezen Podporezen () is a small settlement in the Municipality of Železniki in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, ...

(

Železniki Železniki (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 66–67.) is a small town in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Železni ...

municipality), to its northeasternmost locality under

Skopska Crna Gora Skopska Crna Gora or Karadak Mountains ( Macedonian and , ; ), often called simply Crna Gora (Macedonian and ; ), is a mountain range and ethnographic region in North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia. The highest peak is Ramno in Macedonia. The la ...

in the area of Home (

Bohinj Bohinj (; ), or the Bohinj Valley () or Bohinj Basin (), is a 20 km long and 5 km wide basin in the Julian Alps, in the Upper Carniola region of northwestern Slovenia. It is traversed by the Sava Bohinjka river. Its main feature is the ...

municipality). The southernmost populations occur at Hudičev rob under Mt. Kojca (

Cerkno Cerkno (; ; ) is a small town in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It has around 2,000 inhabitants and is the administrative centre of the Cerkno Hills. It is the seat of the Municipality of Cerkno. Cerkno is a small but important local cultural ...

municipality), while the northwesternmost locality—which represents the extreme northwestern boundary of the species' entire global range—is at Curk waterfall under Mt. Krn (

Kobarid Kobarid (; ; ; ) is a settlement in Slovenia, the administrative centre of the Municipality of Kobarid. Kobarid is known for the 1917 Battle of Caporetto, where the Italian retreat was documented by Ernest Hemingway in his novel '' A Farewell t ...

municipality). The majority of known localities are situated in the upper Bača valley in the

Tolmin Tolmin (; ,trilingual name ''Tolmein, Tolmino, Tolmin'' inGemeindelexikon, der im Reichsrate Vertretenen Königreiche und Länder. Bearbeit auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1900. Herausgegeben von der K.K. Statistische ...

municipality. The species inhabits crevices in

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, dolomite,

marlstone Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part ...

, and

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...

rocks. It typically grows on steep to vertical rock faces with slopes of 80–100 degrees, at elevations ranging from approximately 445 to 1,475 metres above sea level. These rock faces vary in aspect, though many localities have southern, southeastern, or eastern exposures. Phytosociologically, ''M. villosa'' primarily occurs in the

plant community A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...

''Campanulo carnicae''–''Moehringietum villosae'', often associated with other specialized rock-dwelling plants including '' Campanula carnica'', '' Paederota lutea'', ''

Asplenium trichomanes ''Asplenium trichomanes'', the maidenhair spleenwort (not to be confused with the similar-looking Adiantum, maidenhair fern), is a small fern in the spleenwort genus ''Asplenium''. It is a widespread and common species, occurring almost worldwide ...

'', and '' Sesleria caerulea''. Based on variations in habitat conditions and associated species, researchers have identified several variants of this community, including those characterized by '' Carex mucronata'', '' Paederota lutea'', '' Festuca stenantha'', and '' Campanula carnica''. While predominantly found in relatively dry rock crevices, ''M. villosa'' occasionally appears in more water-loving (hydrophilic) plant communities with dominant '' Viola biflora'', particularly at sites like Curk waterfall. The species shows morphological variation, with specimens at some localities (including Curk waterfall) corresponding to the less hairy form ''Moehringia villosa'' f. ''glabrescens''. As of 2021, the species was assessed as vital with generally unthreatened populations, as its rocky habitats are not subject to direct human intervention.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q15571818

villosa ''Villosa'' is a genus of freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the family Unionidae. Species Species within the genus ''Villosa'': * '' Villosa amygdala'' * '' Villosa arkansasensis'' - Ouachita creekshell * '' Villosa choctawensi ...

Endemic flora of Slovenia Plants described in 1833 Taxa named by Franz Xaver von Wulfen