Astragalus idaeus Bunge
Synonymy
Taxon info
Astragalus idaeus is an endemic of Kriti, first discovered by Heldreich in 1846. Although Kriti has been well investigated floristically it was not seen again until 2002 when a small population was found at c. 1900 m in Mt Dikti (see Vassiliades in Bot. Chron. (Patras) 16: 13–17. 2004), growing on a seemingly barren calcareous slope together with, among others, Geocaryum creticum, Lysimachia serpyllifolia, Scutellaria hirta, and Viola fragrans. As indicated by the name, the type supposedly came from Mt Ida (Psiloritis), but this is probably a mistake, and Mt Dikti is likely to be the only locality. Astragalus idaeus belongs to a handful of endemics of Kriti that, in spite of growing in remote mountain areas, are threatened simply by being very rare.A
A. Dimopoulos, P., Raus, Th., Bergmeier, E., Constantinidis, Th., Iatrou, G., Kokkini, S., Strid, A. & Tzanoudakis, D. 2013: Vascular plants of Greece: An annotated checklist. 31. – Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem; Athens: Hellenic Botanical Society. p. 338
