Seseli kiabii (Akhani) Akhani, 2016

Akhani, Hossein, Khoshravesh, Roxana & Malekmohammadi, Maryam, 2016, Taxonomic novelties from Irano-Turanian region and NE Iran: Oreosalsola, a new segregate from Salsola s. l., two new species in Anabasis and Salvia, and two new combinations in Caroxylon and Seseli, Phytotaxa 249 (1), pp. 159-180 : 176

Seseli kiabii (Akhani) Akhani , comb. nov. Seseli tortuosum subsp. kiabii Akhani (1999: 26)

Additional specimens studied after original description ( Akhani 1999): — IRAN. Golestan: 14 NE Golidagh towards Yeke-Chenar , 37°47ʹ04ʺ N, 56°05ʹ27ʺ E, 1335 m, 11.10.2004, H. Akhani 18082 (Hb. Akhani) ; Golestan National Park, Tangegol, scrub N of Tangegol station , 11.02.2003, H. Akhani 16548 (Hb. Akhani). Mazandaran: 48 km S of Qaem-Shahr (Tehran road), near Savad-Kuh , 36°09ʹ20ʺ N, 53°00ʹ51ʺ E, 400 m, on steep rocky slopes along the road, 28.10.1998, H. Akhani 13267 (Hb. Akhani) .

This taxon was described from the Golestan National Park; it occurs on open rocky slopes associated with shrubs and C 4 grasses ( Akhani 1999, Akhani & Ziegler 2002). Later additional localities were found in the north (Akhani 18082) and west of the area in Mazandaran Province (Akhani 13267). This species is distinguished from Seseli tortuosum s. str. by its taller habit up to 2 m (vs. 0.5–1 m), branching from the middle of the stem (vs. from the base), and a later flowering and fruiting time from October to December (vs. June to October). Subsequently we found the opportunity to study some Turkish specimens of Seseli tortuosum in Gazi University Herbarium in addition to a population of this species in situ on the coast of Greece in Central Macedonia (Pieria, ca. 15 km N of Katerini, coastal saline and sandy shores near Alikes, 40°22ʹ39ʺ N, 22°37ʹ49ʺ E, sea level, 13.07.2012, H. Akhani 22984). Thereafter, we became convinced that these are distinct species. Seseli tortuosum s.l. is a complex that is widespread in the Mediterranean area where some infraspecific taxa have been described. Studies in Sicily show that the littoral plants of S. tortuosum subsp. maritima differ morphologically and cytologically from inland populations of S. tortuosum subsp. tortuosum ( Brullo et al. 2011) .

The pollen grains of S. kiabii differ markedly from those described and illustrated for S. tortuosum from Turkey ( Güner et al. 2011). With an average length of 28.6 ± 1.0 μm, they are much longer than those of S. tortuosum with an average length of 22.7 ± 0.6 μm, and their ornamentation of polar and equatorial view is clearly striate rather than slightly striate to rugulate in S. tortuosum . They look more similar to those of S. campestre Besser (1822: 44) than those of S. tortuosum (see Fig. 2H, I in Güner et al. 2011).

Figures

FIGURE 2. The 50% majority rule tree from Bayesian Inference analysis of ITS sequences of 36 taxa/accessions of Salsoleae and Sympegma regelii as outgroup, showing the relationship of Oreosalsola, Kali, Salsola s.str., and the position of Anabasis firouzii and A. setifera. The numbers above branches show posterior probabilities. *The accession number EF453389 was wrongly reported in Akhani et al. (2007) under Anabasis setifera.