Allium lojaconoi
Allium lojaconoi, common name Maltese dwarf garlic, is a species of wild garlic endemic to the Republic of Malta in the Mediterranean. Described as a new species in 1982, it grows in coastal and inland habitats, usually in rocky places.
Taxonomy
The species was first described in 1982 by Salvatore Brullo, E. Lanfranco and Pietro Pavone. It is closely related to A. parciflorum, from Sardinia and Corsica. It is in the family Amaryllidaceae.Description
Allium lojaconoi is a small bulbous and delicate perennial plant. It grows from an or nearly spherical bulb measuring 4–6 mm in diameter. The bulb has inner membraneous, transparent, and intact, while the outer tunics are dark, hardened, and withering, easily detaching from the bulb. The plant's stem grows up to 10 cm tall with a maximum diameter of 1 mm. The stem is smooth and covered by leaf in its lower half. The plant typically produces 4–5 thin, green, flattened leaves measuring 2–5 cm long and 0.8–1.5 mm wide. The leaves have 5 rounded ridges on their slightly convex surface, while the surface is flat or slightly channeled.The inflorescence is sparse, containing only 2–12 flowers arranged in a somewhat elliptical shape. The flowers are protected by a two-valved, with unequal membranous, transparent measuring 3–7 mm long. These valves are fused at the base, widely divergent at the top, and have more or less extended tail-like tips. The flowers are arranged in four clusters called bostrices, each with very thin membranous up to 2.5 mm long, supporting 3–9 flowers each.
The flower stalks are unequal, measuring 7–20 mm long, during flowering and erect when fruiting. The perianth is distinctly urn-shaped, with ranging from whitish-pink to purple. These tepals are lance-shaped and pointed at the tip, measuring 5–7 mm long and 1–1.2 mm wide, with a wine-purple central vein running to the tip. The tepals are briefly fused at the base into a ring.
The remain shorter than the tepals even after pollination. They have simple, awl-shaped filaments of unequal length—the outer ones up to 1.5 mm long and the inner ones up to 2.5 mm long. The are straw-coloured and about 1 mm long. The is yellowish-green, ovoid-oblong, swollen in the lower half and gradually tapering toward the top, measuring 2–2.5 mm long. The is 0.3–0.5 mm long. The fruit is a more or less spherical capsule, 4 mm long and 3.5–4 mm wide.
Allium lojaconoi flowers from late spring to early summer, specifically from late May to early July. As a geophyte, it survives unfavourable conditions by storing nutrients in its bulb. The plant has 16 chromosomes.
Habitat and distribution
Allium lojaconoi is endemic to the Maltese archipelago, occurring exclusively on the islands of Malta, Gozo, and Comino in the central Mediterranean Sea. This restricted distribution makes it a true Maltese endemic species.The plant grows in both coastal and inland habitats, typically growing in semi-rupestral environments. It can be found in small depressions in limestone rock where a thin layer of soil accumulates, as well as on rocky ledges and crevices. In these microhabitats, A. lojaconoi participates in the formation of ephemeral meadows alongside numerous annual microflora.
Unlike its relative Allium parciflorum, A. lojaconoi appears to be more widely distributed throughout its native archipelago. Based on field surveys and herbarium records, the species has been documented at multiple locations across Malta, including Buskett, Wadi Babu, Salina Bay, Misrah Ghonoq, Marfa Ridge, and Ghallis. On Gozo, it has been recorded at Bardan and Xlendi, while on Comino it was collected as early as 1911. The species' preference for limestone substrates aligns with the dominant geology of the Maltese islands.