47 Hladnikia 26: 47-66 (2010)
Juncus minutulus Krecz. et Gontsch.
New species of Slovenian flora found in Prekmurje
Nova vrsta slovenske flore najdena v Prekmurju
9163/1 Slovenia: Prekmurje, Budinci, Bejčin Breg, 355 m s. m., in the Hungarian-Slovenian 
borderland eastward to the border-stone A115, (N46-52-36/E016-14-05). Leg. et det. G. 
k irály , 09. 09. 2009 (private herbarium of the author and LJU).
In the territory of Slovenia Juncus minutulus Krecz. et Gontch. was found for the first time 
during the floristic research carried out in the Hungarian-Slovenian borderland. Juncus bufonius 
agg. is characterized by high morphological variability. This taxon belongs to the subgenus 
Poiophylli Buchenau within genus Juncus, however, the classification and identification of the 
included taxa are different in various European floras . Several synonyms, whose judgements 
are not uniform, make the question more complex. Apart from J. bufonius L. s. str., which is 
frequent all over Europe, also the rare J. ranarius Songeon et Perrier ( J. ambiguus auct., J. 
nastanthus auct.) is accepted generally on species level (see l Auber & W Agner 1996, s t Ace 
1997, Jäger & Werner 2002, k irschner & k ubát 2002, f ischer & al. 2008, l á Jer & k irály 
2009). Further, closely related taxon is the Mediterranean J. hybridus Brot., which does not 
exist in Central Europe. On the contrary, certain authors ( c o Pe & s t Ace 1978, FernánDez-
carVaJal 1982, s t Ace 1997, Van Der MeiJDen 2005) consider J. minutulus Krecz. et Gontsch. 
as a subspecies or synonym of J. bufonius s. l., while the latest flora works of Central Europe 
handle this taxon on species level. J. minutulus can be distinguished from J. bufonius s. str. 
undoubtedly by observing the stamens: the number of stamens is 3 and the length of anther 
is up to 1/3 the length of filament. Size characters, such as the length of capsules, seeds 
and perianth of J. minutulus and J. bufonius are not completely reliable (Tab. 1.). A further 
important characteristic is that flowers of J. minutulus are normally cleistogamous ( h olub 
1976, k irschner 2002b, f ischer & al. 2008, confirmed by own observation as well).
Table 1: Important characteristics of J. bufonis s.str. and J. minutulus (after k irschner 2002b)
Characteristic J. bufonius s.str. J. minutulus
Length of anther (mm) (0,3-)0,5-1,0(-1,2) 0,2-0,5
Length of capsule (mm) 3,5-5 2,5-3
Length of seeds (mm) 0,40-0,50 (0,30-)0,35-0,40
Width of seeds (mm) 0,25-0,35 c. 0,25
10 flowers and 10 capsules of 5 different herbarium specimens collected in Slovenia 
on the given locality were measured. Standard deviation of the examined values of each 
Notulae ad floram Sloveniae

48 Notulae ad floram Sloveniae
characteristic was low, the sample was decidedly uniform. The length of anther is 0.30-0.38 
(average 0.35) mm, the length of capsule is 3-3.5 (average 3.21) mm, the length of seed is 
0.37-0.40 (average 0.39) mm, the width of seed is 0.25-0.28 (average 0.27) mm. Comparing to 
the data of Tab. 1. it is clear that the length of capsule falls within the transition range while 
the size of seed and anther shows identity to J. minutulus. The reason of this uncertainty is, 
that the morphometric research on the especially variable aggregate of J. bufonius cannot be 
considered finished, each taxon is not completely clarified. k irschner (2002b) proposed the 
possibility of hybrid development between these two taxa. However, hybrids are not common 
probably and this alone cannot explain the identification difficulties. Considering the present 
data, in my opinion it can be stated, that specimens identifiable as J. minutulus occur both in 
Hungary and in Slovenia.
The distribution area of J. minutulus is not clarified. Occurrences are known in Finland 
and Sweden (h Arm AJA 2003), in the Czech Republic (h olub 1976, k irschner 2 0 0 2 a ) , i n 
Slovakia (m Arhol D & h in Dák 1998), in Hungary ( k irály ined. ), in Austria ( f ischer & al. 
2008), in Germany (Jäger & Werner 2 0 0 2 ) , i n I t a l y a n d C r o a t i a ( s t Armühler 2 0 0 7 ) , i n 
France (http://www.tela-botanica.org/eflore/BDNFF), in Greece (g reuter & al. 1985) as well 
as in Romania (h olub 1976).
Formerly it has not been reported from the territory of Slovenia (Jog An 2001, MarTinČiČ 
2007), its Istrian occurrence (s t Armühler 2007) is situated in the Italian part of the Trieste 
Gulf (s t Armühler ex litt.). J. minutulus was found in Slovenia in Prekmurje, close to Budinci. 
It exists in a Nanocyperion community of a shady road. To characterize this association the 
following relevé was prepared: 09. 09. 2009., G. k irály , E
1
 100%, Height of E
1
: 5-30 cm, plot 
size: 1 m
2
.
Eleocharis carniolica 15, Glyceria declinata 5, Juncus minutulus 25, Juncus tenuis 50, 
Peplis portula 5, Poa annua 10, Ranunculus flammula 10, Sagina procumbens +, Stellaria 
alsine +.
The surroundings of the locality (towards both countries) are covered by closed Pinus 
sylvestris-deciduous mixed forests of acidophil character and cultivated Scotch pine forests. 
According to the Hungarian observation, occurrence of J. minutulus is expectable mainly in 
areas of bare wet ground where few competitors exist. It often replaces J. bufonius s. str. in 
Nanocyperion community fragments emerged on the roads and lanes of closed forest. It is 
probable, that the regularly observed cleistogam characteristic of this species represents the 
adaptation of the fragmented populations. In the territory of Őrség region bordering Slovenia, 
occurrence of J. minutulus can be considered scattered, consequently, it is definitely present in 
other parts of the adjoining Slovenian territories. According to f ischer & al. (2008)  J. minutulus 
is a “(submontane) montane-subalpine” taxon, which means it reaches higher altitudes than J. 
bufonius s. str. This statement must be considered reservedly, as there are few data referring to 
the vertical range of J. minutulus in Central Europe. However, the phytogeographic character 
of Őrség and Prekmurje regions is in accordance with this description: moist hill-countries of 
lower altitudes with several montane-subalpine flora elements.
References
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49 Hladnikia 26: 47-66 (2010)
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http://www.tela-botanica.org/eflore/BDNFF
Acknowledgements
I owe thanks to Walter Starmühler (Graz) for his help to clarify the Istrian locality data 
of this species. I also owe thanks to Božo Frajman (Ljubljana) for acquisition of certain 
literature. The researches in the Őrség region were supported by “OTKA 67666” Hungarian 
Research Grant.
g ergely k irály , gkiraly@emk.nyme.hu