Genetic and morphological data reveal new insights into the taxonomy of Campanula versicolor s.l. (C
by Ivana Janković, Zlatko Šatović, Zlatko Liber, Nevena Kuzmanović, Romeo Di Pietro, Ivan Radosavljević, Zoran Nikolov, Dmitar Lakušić
Campanula versicolor is a constituent of the Campanula pyramidalis complex, distributed in the central and southern Balkan Peninsula with a small disjunct range in SE Italy. The taxonomy of the broadly defined C. versicolor was controversial in the past due to high morphological variability of the populations across the range. We used microsatellite DNA data along with morphometric analyses on the extensive population sampling covering the entire range in order to reconstruct the relationships among the populations of the intricate C. versicolor sensu lato. Based on the obtained results three distinct entities can be distinguished, circumscribed here on the subspecies level, with newly established combinations: C. versicolor subsp. versicolor, C. versicolor subsp. korabensis and C. versicolor subsp. tenorei. We propose a new taxonomic treatment of C. versicolor s.l. with key for the identification, description, distribution and habitat data for each of the subspecies.
