Bupleurum kakiskalae

Bupleurum kakiskalae
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Apiales
Family:	Apiaceae
Genus:	Bupleurum
Species:	B. kakiskalae
Binomial name
Bupleurum kakiskalae Greuter

Bupleurum kakiskalae is a species of flowering plant in the Apiaceae family. It is endemic to Greece (Crete). One of Crete’s rarest plants, B. kakiskalae grows on a few calcareous cliffs at 1450-1500m in the Lefka Ori (White Mountains) of western Crete. Plants produce a single, monocarpic rosette of narrow oblanceolate, blue-green leaves which flowers after 3–12 years. The flower stem is branched and up to 1m tall, with numerous heads of yellow flowers in late summer. The plant reproduces by seed, but most seed falls to the ground below the cliffs where the young seedlings are destroyed by goats. The plant is taxonomically isolated within the genus Bupleurum.

References

• Fielding, J. & Turland, N.; Mathew, B. (ed.), 2005. Flowers of Crete. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
• Fournaraki, C. & Thanos, C.A. (2011). "Bupleurum kakiskalae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 1 April 2014. 
• Turland, N. J., Chilton, L. & Press, J. R., 1993. Flora of the Cretan area: annotated checklist & atlas [2nd impression, 1995, with printing errors corrected]. The Natural History Museum and HMSO, London.