Taraxacum dzhungaricola Kirschner & Štěpánek, 2017

Kirschner, Jan & Štěpánek, Jan, 2017, A revision of Taraxacum sect. Atrata, a dandelion group centred in the Middle Asia, and the problem of Taraxacum brevirostre, Phytotaxa 305 (4), pp. 225-261 : 252-253

16. Taraxacum dzhungaricola Kirschner & Štěpánek , sp. nova.

Type: — KAZAKHSTAN. Dzhungarskiy Alatau , bassein r. Koksu, levoberezhye srednego techeniya r. Kazan, lednikovye istoki pritokov, sredi melkozema drevnikh moren vblizi lednikovych yazykov [the Dzhungar Alatau, Koksu River Basin, left banks of the midstream of Kazan R., glacier sources of tributaries], 30 Aug 1948, V. Goloskokov s.n. ( LE, no. det. 17905, holotype; isotype: LE, no. det. 17888) .

Diagnosis: — Plantae parvae foliis profunde divisis, lobis lateralibus linearibus rectis, raro hamatis, scapis glabris, phyllariis exterioribus paucis, adpressis, saepissime glabris, minute corniculatis, ligulis siphonanthis pallide luteis, stigmatibus luteis, acheniis laevibus, epyramidatis, superne sparsissime minute tuberculatis, rostro crasso, 1.2–2.5 mm longo.

Description: —Slender small plants with root head covered with remnants of old petioles („tunic“), leaves light green to ± slightly greyish green, 3–6 cm long, usually to 0.8 cm wide, deeply dissected, with numerous (usually 3–4 on each side) lateral segments and occasional lobules, lateral segments to 4–5 mm long, linear, to 1.5 mm wide, ± straight, less often recurved-hamate, usually downward-pointing, acute, terminal lobe distinct, elongated, 1–2 cm long, to 3 mm wide, sometimes lingulate, interlobes distinct, narrow, entire; leaves ± glabrous. Scape glabrous, usually shorter than leaves at anthesis. Outer phyllaries glabrous, sometimes very sparsely minutely ciliate, appressed, few (usually 9–11), slightly imbricate or not so, narrowly lanceolate, blunt, outer of them usually 4.5–5.5 × (1.4–) 1.7–2.2 mm, the others to 6.5 mm long and to 2 mm wide, blackish green to blackish, suffused pink below apex, indistinctly narrowly (ca. 0.2 mm) bordered whitish, with blunt little cornicles; inner phyllaries usually 8–10, to 9–11 (–13) mm long, blackish, slightly corniculate or ± flat. Flowers few, ligules short, ± tubular, pale yellow, stigmas pale yellow (perhaps suffused pinkish), pollen present, sparse, irregular in size. Achenes greyish pale stramineous-brown, 3.9–4.5 mm long, smooth, only with a few minute tubercules above, cone not distinct (the part of ± turbinate achene body above the tubercles about 0.5 mm long), rostrum thick, 1.2–2.5 mm long, pappus whitish-yellowish, 5.5–6 mm long.— Agamospermous.— Fig. 15A .

Taxonomic notes: —Easily distinguished by its leaf shape, pale flowers and usually corniculate phyllaries. The very short and thick beak and dark corniculate phyllaries point to a marginal position of our species in T. sect. Atrata, relatively close to the T. subsect. Epyramidata (= T. sect. Oligantha auct.) So far as the material goes, T. dzhungaricola is confined to the Dzhungarian Alatau ( Fig. 22 ).

Specimens examined: — KAZAKHSTAN. Dzhungarskiy Alatau, bassein r. Koksu, istoki r. Tenteksaya, po melkozemlistym sklonam drevnich moren [the Dzhungar Alatau, Koksu River Basin, sources of Tenteksay, shallow soil slopes of old moraines], 3200 m, 15 Aug 1948, V. P. Goloskokov s. n. (paratype: LE, no. det. 17904).

Figures

FIGURE 15. Selected herbarium specimen details.A, T. dzhungaricola; B, T. pseudoatratum; C, T. subglaciale; D, T. goloskokovii; E, F, T. sinotianschanicum. All specimens are preserved at LE.

FIGURE 22. Distribution ranges of T. atrochlorinum (square), T. dzhungaricola (triangle), and T. roseiflos (circle).