Reassessing the Odontites purpureus group (Orobanchaceae) from south-east Spain and north-west Africa

We describe a species of Odontites, O. bolligeri E.Rico, L.Delgado & Herrero, endemic to the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula and north Africa, from Morocco to Tunisia. This species belongs to the O. purpureus group and corresponds to the taxon that the monographer Markus Bolliger called O. squarrosus subsp. squarrosus. However, according to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN), this is an invalid name, and hence we propose a new name for these plants here. Drawings of the new species are also supplied. In addition, we compare and discuss the other species of the O. purpureus group, propose a key for them and include a karyological study of the two Iberian species of the group. (C) 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2008, 158, 701-708.