A morphological, caryological and morphometrical analysis of Teucrium euganeum Vis. and its allies

The aim of the present study is to clarify the taxonomic position of Teucrium euganeum Vis. vis a vis T. siculum (Rafin.) Guss. and T. scorodonia L. The study is based on an analysis of macro- and micro-morphological characters, type, and distribution of trichomes in different parts of the plant, chromosome counts, and a statistical analysis of such morphometric data. The results of the study allow one to consider the populations of the Euganean Hills (Padua, north-eastern Italy) as a sub-species of T. siculum, and, therefore, a new combination is proposed: Teucrium siculum (Rafin.) Guss. subsp. euganeum (Vis.) Tornadore, comb. et stat.nov.