Colchicum goharae: Red Data Book of Armenia

EN B 1 ab(i,ii,iii,v) + 2 ab(i,ii,iii,v)

Category. Endangered species. Endemic of Armenia. The extent of occurrence and the area of occupancy are less than 500 km2. The area of distribution is fragmented. It was not included in the first edition of the Red Data Book of Armenia. It is not included in the Annexes of CITES and that of the Bern Convention.

Description. Perennial stemless herb. External tunics of bulbotuber blackish, elongated into fragmentated collar, inner ones bright orange– brown. Leaves oblong or linear–lanceolate, coriaceous, glossy, glabrous. Flowers white; lobes of limb broadly elliptic or obovate, obtusate. Capsule oblong, in upper part tripartite, at apex acuminate, with rostellum up to 2 mm long, brown. Seeds globose–edged, light brown, with small arilloid.

Distribution. In Armenia it occurs only in Idjevan floristic region (surroundings of Idjevan, mountains Aghaya and Abegakar, neighborhoods of Haghartsin village). EOO is 150 km2, AOO is 12 km2. The number of locations is 3.

Ecological, biological and phytocoenological peculiarities. Grows in middle and upper mountain belts, at the altitudes of 1100–2200 meters above sea level, in beech–hornbeam forests, in the meadows, between rocks. Flowering in May, fruiting from May to June.

Limiting factors. Restricted extent of occurrence and area of occupancy, loss/degradation of habitats caused by deforestation, land development.

Conservation actions. No conservation actions. Necessary: monitoring of the population state, search of new population.