Folia Geobotanica 39: 293–318, 2004 TAXONOMIC NOTES ON LINARIA MILL. (SCROPHULARIACEAE ) FOR FLORA IBERICA Llorenç Sáez 1) , Meritxell Sainz 1) & Manuel B. Crespo 2) 1) Unitat de Botanica, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, E-08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; fax + 34 93 581 1321, e-mail llorens.saez@uab.es (corresponding author) 2) Centro Iberoamericano de la Biodiversidad (CIBIO), Universidad de Alicante, P.O. Box 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain Abstract: Taxonomic considerations and nomenclatural adjustments as a part of a revision of Linaria MILL. undertaken within the “Flora iberica” project are presented. Data on morphology, seed coat surface, chorology, ecology, synonymy and variability of 11 accepted taxa are reported. The following new combinations are proposed: Linaria aeruginea subsp. cardonica (FONT QUER) L. SÁEZ et M. SAINZ, Linaria depauperata subsp. ilergabona (M.B. CRESPO et V.J. ARÁN) L. SÁEZ, and Linaria saturejoides subsp. angustealata (WILLMOTT) L. SÁEZ et M.B. CRESPO. Keywords: Endemism, Infraspecific variation, Seed coat, Taxonomy INTRODUCTION The genus Linaria MILL. includes nearly 150 species, being the largest genus of the tribe Antirrhineae (SUTTON 1988). It is distributed throughout Europe, Northern Africa and Asia, with the centre of diversity lying in the Iberian Peninsula (VALDÉS 1970, SUTTON 1988). Many species of this genus are endemic to relatively small areas and often show a specialized ecological behaviour, growing on rock crevices, sandy soils, dry river beds, stony slopes, etc. The complexity of this genus, particularly of the L. sect. Supinae (BENTH.) WETTST. subsect. Supinae (BENTH.) BOISS. et REUT. in the Iberian Peninsula, is reflected in the different and often contradicting taxonomic treatments of several taxa and species groups. The members of sect. Supinae subsect. Supinae so far cytologically investigated are diploids with n=6 and 2n=12 (HEITZ 1927, LÖVE &KJELLQVIST 1974, CARDONA &CONTANDRIOPOULOS 1980, SUTTON 1988, MAYOL et al. 1998). The present notes are part of a revision of Linaria carried out for the “Flora iberica” project. In general, our treatment of this part of the genus is in agreement with that of SUTTON (1988), except for the status of some taxa. Criteria for taxonomic delimitation in Linaria necessarily should be based on the evaluation of discriminating morphological features, the relationship between morphological and geographical patterns of variation, and the nature and extent of transitional forms, if any, linking discrete entities. Our taxonomic revision of Linaria for “Flora iberica” has pointed out that the status of several taxa need to be re-evaluated. Here we present the revised treatments of Linaria depauperata LERESCHE ex LANGE, L. aeruginea (GOUAN)CAV., L. saturejoides BOISS., L. orbensis CARRETERO et BOIRA, and L. munbyana BOISS. et REUT.