Peltaria is a small genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae (the mustard family), order Brassicales. The genus comprises four species of glabrous (hairless) perennials distributed from Southeast Europe and the Near East to Central Asia. Plants in this genus bear white or pale pink flowers and possess sessile, entire, simple leaves. Their distinctive fruit — the silicule — is pendent, very flat, and carried on a short, descending style, a character that distinguishes Peltaria from many of its relatives in the mustard family.
The genus grows on rocky slopes across a wide arc stretching from southeastern Austria and the Balkans through the eastern Mediterranean to Iraq, Iran, and Central Asia. Notable members include Peltaria alliacea, found from southeastern Austria to Romania and Albania; Peltaria angustifolia, native to the Near East (including the Golan Heights and Hermon mountains of Israel, as well as Jordan, Iraq, and Iran); and Peltaria turkmena from Central Asia. A fourth species, Peltaria emarginata, is endemic to Greece and has attracted scientific attention as a nickel hyperaccumulator — a plant capable of concentrating unusually high levels of nickel in its tissues.
Distribution
Peltaria ranges from Southeast Europe — including southeastern Austria, Romania, Albania, and Greece — through the Near East (Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Iran) to Central Asia (Turkmenistan). Species consistently favour rocky slopes across this range.
Ecology
Species grow on rocky slopes. Peltaria emarginata, endemic to Greece, is a documented nickel hyperaccumulator, concentrating nickel in its leaves — a trait of interest in phytoremediation research.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was circumscribed to include four species by Warwick, Francis, Al-Shehbaz, and Kubitzki. All species share chromosome numbers of 2n=14 (with polyploid counts of 28 and 56 recorded for P. alliacea). Peltaria emarginata has also been treated under the synonym Leptoplax emarginata (Boiss.) O.E.Schulz.
