''Leontodon pyrenaicus'' is a species of hawkbit found in the Alps, Pyrenees, Cantabrian Mountains, northern

Apennines The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

and northern parts of the

Balkan Peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. It grows in meadows and on stony slopes from the tree line to over 3000 m, usually on

acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

ic soils. It is perennial, and flowers from June to August. The stems of ''L. pyrenaicus'' are narrow, up to 30 cm long, with several scale-like leaves, and with a single flower head at the top. The leaves form a basal rosette, and are clearly stalked. The flower heads are 20–20 mm wide and bright yellow. ''L. pyrenaicus'' is divided into three

allopatric Allopatric speciation () – also referred to as geographic speciation, vicariant speciation, or its earlier name the dumbbell model – is a mode of speciation that occurs when biological populations become geographically isolated from ...

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

which differ in their size and in the nature of the hairs on the

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s: *''L. pyrenaicus'' subsp. ''cantabricus'' lives in the Cantabrian Mountains *''L. pyrenaicus'' subsp. ''helveticus'' lives in the Alps, Apennines and Balkans *''L. pyrenaicus'' subsp. ''pyrenaicus'' lives in the Pyrenees A number of authors since 2006, based on molecular evidence, have divided the genus '' Leontodon'' into two, with the former

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

''Oporinia'' split out into the genus ''Scorzoneroides''. If this is done, ''L. pyrenaicus'' is placed in ''Scorzoneroides'' as ''S. pyrenaica''. It is also common for the subspecies to be considered separate species, in which case they are called ''Leontodon cantabricus'' (or ''Scorzoneroides cantabrica''), ''L. helveticus'' (''S. helvetica'') and ''L. pyrenaicus'' (''S. pyrenaica'').

References

*Fischer, M. A., W. Adler & K. Oswald (2005): ''Exkursionsflora für Österreich, Liechtenstein und Südtirol''. 2nd edn. Land Oberösterreich, Biologiezentrum des OÖ Landesmuseum, Linz, 1392 pp. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3229799 Cichorieae Alpine flora