Morphological Analysis of Short- Tooth Sage (Salvia brachyodon Vandas) Populations

Short-tooth sage (Salvia brachyodon Vandas) is an endemic and one of the rarest plant species of the Dinaric karst. Although older literature indicates its presence in more localities, only two have been confi rmed at the present time, Mt. Orjen (border of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro) and Pelješac peninsula (Croatia). Due to its very narrow distribution and economically very interesting essential oil composition short-tooth sage might become more endangered in the future. Th e aim of this research was to determine and compare inter-and intrapopulation morphological diversity of the only two noted natural populations of short-tooth sage by analyzing 16 quantitative morphological traits. Pelješac population of shorttooth sage showed considerably higher values for traits related to habitus and plant height, while the Mt. Orjen population showed higher values for traits related to the calyx and higher occurrence of sessile glandular hairs on the fl ower pedicels. When interpreting the obtained results, we should consider the fact that the habitats on Pelješac peninsula and Mt. Orjen greatly diff er. In order to get better insight into the diversity and diff erentiation of short-tooth sage populations and to defi ne effi cient protection measures an additional analysis of populations using molecular markers are recommended.