Centaurea zaferii Negaresh (2017: 320)

Negaresh, Kazem & Rahiminejad, Mohammad Reza, 2018, A revision of Centaurea sect. Cynaroides (Asteraceae, Cardueae-Centaureinae), Phytotaxa 363 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

36. Centaurea zaferii Negaresh (2017: 320) . ( Fig. 77 )

Centaurea foliosa Boissier & Kotschy in Boissier (1875: 672), nom. illeg., non Centaurea foliosa Gandoger (1873: 11) . Type:— TURKEY. C5 Hatay: in valle Amani occidentalis supra Arsus prope pagum Ursusa, 150 m, 4 July 1862, Kotschy 113 (holotype G!, isotypes C!, JE!, K!, P!: two sheets, S!).

Biennial plants, usually yellowish-green, 100–150 cm tall.Stem erect, branched in upper part, greenish, ca. 6 mm in diam. at base, cylindrical, with thick yellowish striations, ± densely leafy throughout, subglabrous or with sparse arachnoid hairs. Leaves coriaceous, papyraceous (on drying), sparsely covered with arachnoid hairs, more densely along midrib and veins. Basal and lower cauline leaves very large, petiolate, hastate, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 60–77 × 10–15 cm, basally with 1–2 pairs of ± falcate or triangular lobes (4–8 cm long), denticulate, truncate at base, obtuse or acute at apex. Median cauline leaves sessile, simple, narrowly oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 10–15 × 3–5 cm, decurrent, up to 30 mm along stem, entire, acuminate at apex. Upper cauline leaves increasingly smaller, sessile, simple, lanceolate, 4–9 × 1.5–2.2 cm, usually longer than capitula, decurrent, entire, acuminate at apex. Capitula numerous, in 2–3 nearly congested (subsessile) at end of stem and short branches, arranged in a subraceme or racemose dichasium. Involucres oblong-ovoid, 23–25 × 13–25 mm. Phyllaries multiseriate, greenish-yellow, imbricate, coriaceous. Appendages large, totally concealing phyllaries, chartaceous, not decurrent, straw-coloured, lanceolate, 2–3 mm wide in base (excluding cilia); cilia numerous, erect, (8–)12–14 on each side, 1.5–3 mm long; spines short, 3–5 mm long, slightly longer than adjacent cilia. Flowers yellow; central florets hermaphroditic, 28–30 mm long, corolla 12–13 mm long, 5-lobed, lobes 6–7 mm long; peripheral florets sterile, nearly equal to central ones, numerous (15–20 in each capitulum) and conspicuous, finely dissected, not radiant, 4-lobed, limb lobes linear. Achenes lanceolate-oblong, ca. 4.5–5 mm long, 2–2.5 mm wide, striate and shiny, brown to dark brown or silver-brown, rounded at apex, glabrous; insertion areole lateral, yellowish or light-brown, ca. 0.5 mm long. Pappus double, persistent, multiseriate, scabrous, brown or dark brown, sometimes dark purple, 5–7 mm long, bristles of inner rows much shorter than others, ca. 1.5 mm long.

Taxonomic and distribution remarks: — Centaurea zaferii is a very rare endemic to Hatay Province, S Turkey ( Fig. 76 ). It is an Irano-Turanian element, and grows on rocky slopes, stony slopes, limestone cliffs, gravel slopes, Cupressus forest, forest slopes or scattered between Rosa shrubs, in low-montane zone, at elevation of ca. 150 m ( Oreizi et al. 2017). Centaurea zaferii is distributed at the lowest elevations in comparison to the other species of C. sect. Cynaroides ( Oreizi et al. 2017) . It is spectacular and can be used as an ornamental plant.

Wagenitz & Hellwig (1996b) stated that C. foliosa ( C. zaferii ) can be related to C. babylonica ( Linnaeus 1759: 1199) Linnaeus (1771: 460) from C. sect. Microlophus. But C. zaferii is entirely different and can be easily distinguished from it by having distinct and ciliate appendages (vs. appendages lacking) that is a diagnostic character for members of C. sect. Cynaroides . Furthermore, the chromosome number of C. babylonica is 2 n = 16 that was reported by Uysal et al. (2009), and according to Negaresh & Rahiminejad (2015a), the basic chromosome number x = 8 is nearly restricted to C. sect. Microlophus, whereas the basic chromosome number for C. sect. Cynaroides is x = 9. Therefore, the best position for C. zaferii is within C. sect. Cynaroides .

Centaurea zaferii is a distinct species without close relatives in Turkey. But it can be compared with a little known species, C. charrelii from Greece.

Chromosome numbers: — Askoy et al. (2016) reported the chromosome number 2 n = 2 x = 18 for Centaurea foliosa collected from Turkey, Arsus ( Hatay). This is the only count for this taxon.

Selected specimens examined:— TURKEY. Hatay: Höyük Köy, südöstlich Arsuz (Ulucinar), am Bachufer , ca. 150 m, 11 August 1994, Hellwig & Kaya s.n. ( GOET!, ISTE!); Antakya, Kiseciküstleri 14 July 2014, Bona 102867 ( ISTE!, herb. Negaresh!) .

Figures

FIGURE 76. Distribution of Centaurea tomentella (squares), C. zaferii (circles), and C. zarrei (triangles).

FIGURE 77. Centaurea zaferii Negaresh (Kotschy 113, G). A. close up of capitula. B. habit. C. inflorescence. D. basal leaf. Scale C = 1 cm, D = 2 cm.