Cyanus hekimhanensis (Şirin & Yıldırım) Negaresh

Negaresh, Kazem, 2022, A checklist of the genus Cyanus (Asteraceae, Cardueae) in Turkey, with notes on taxonomy and distribution, Phytotaxa 531 (1), pp. 18-40 : 25

7. Cyanus hekimhanensis (Şirin & Yıldırım) Negaresh , comb. nova.

Basionym: Centaurea hekimhanensis Şirin & Yıldırım (2021: 14) . Type:— TURKEY. Malatya: SW slopes of the Yamadağı , stony-gravely areas, 2545 m, 19 June 2015, Yıldırım 3974 (holotype KNYA!, isotype ANK).

Taxonomic notes: —Recently, Şirin et al. (2021) described Centaurea hekimhanensis Şirin & Yıldırım as a new species for the flora of Turkey. They did not place it in Cyanus but, as they did not recognize that genus, they included it in Centaurea . According to them, it is closely related to Cyanus reuterianus . A detailed comparison of the description and type photograph confirms that Centaurea hekimhanensis belongs to Cyanus because of its violet-blue florets, peripheral florets radiant and devoid of staminodes, appendages of phyllaries spineless with scarious margin decurrent nearly to the base. So, based on the current concept of Cyanus , I propose the new combination.

Cyanus hekimhanensis resembles C. reuterianus , which is endemic to Turkey, in life form, habit indumentum and involucre size, but differs by some important characters such as rosette leaves always undivided, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, obtuse at apex (vs. lyrate with broadly lanceolate to oval or suborbicular terminal segment, rarely undivided, rounded at apex), cauline leaves linear, acute at apex (vs. lanceolate, obtuse at apex), median appendages 8–11 × 4–5 mm (included cilia) (vs. 12–12.5 × 2–3 mm), peripheral florets 21–23 mm (vs. 16–19 mm) long, and also pappus 1.2–1.7 mm (vs. 0.5–0.6 mm) long.

Distribution: — Cyanus hekimhanensis is a very rare endemic of Malatya Province, S Turkey. It is only known from the type locality in Yamadağı ( Fig. 4 ).

Figures

FIGURE 4. Distribution of Cyanus eflanensis (circle), C. germanicopolitanus (squares), and C. hekimhanensis (triangle) in Turkey.