A new endemic subspecies of Salicornia procumbens (Chenopodiaceae) from Sardinia (Italy)
The aim of the present research is to investigate the populations of the Sardinian island, for which no molecular data are available until now, in relationship with the North AdriaticVenetian (North Adriatic) ones by both morphological and molecular approaches. Molecular data (nuclear ETS marker) and morphological analyses (MANOVA, PCA, DA, and Box-Plot analyses) evidenced that Venetian and Sardinian populations formed two well distinct groups. In particular, the Sardinian specimens placed in a distinct subclade of the S. procumbens group with a sequence from a Morocco plant. These results highlighted that the Sardinian glasswort is distinct from the Venetian populations and can be recognized as a distinct subspecies of S. procumbens endemic to the Sardinian island and here called S. procumbens subsp. ichnusae subsp. nov.