Taraxacum sublilacinum 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 : 231-234

2. Taraxacum sublilacinum Kirschner & Štěpánek , sp. nova.

Type: — KAZAKHSTAN. Zailiyskiy Alatau Range, district of Karasaiskiy Rayon, Almaty, region above the lake of Uľken Almaty (Bolshoe Almatinskoe Ozero), vicinity of the Dzhusaly-Kezen Pass between Pik Almaty (3681 m) and the main summit of Almatynyn-Alatary Mtns. (3954 m), meadows below the research station near the pass, loc. 37, 43° 02‘ 34.1“ N, 76° 56‘ 45.2“ E, 3310 m, 8 Aug 2009, J. Kirschner 3123 ( PRA, no. det. 28194, holotype; isotypes: PRA, no. det. 28197 et dupl.)

Diagnosis: — Plantae graciles foliis glabris anguste spathulatis vel anguste oblanceolatis integerrimis, scapo glabrescente vel superne sparsissime araneoso, phyllariis involucralibus exterioribus ovatis usque lanceolatis, basi adpressis, superne laxe adpressis vel arcuato-recurvis, minute ciliatis, anguste albo-marginatis, ligulis saepissime pallide lilacinis, stigmatibus viridescentibus, antheris polline carentibus vel sparsissime polliniferis, acheniis superne spinuloso-squamulatis, pyramide bene evoluta, 0.4–0.7 mm longa.

Description: —Plants small, slender, usually 6–10 cm tall. Petiole pink to purple in the basal part, pale green distally, long, narrow, unwinged; leaves deep green, narrowly spathulate to narrowly oblanceolate, usually 2.5–7 × 0.4–0.9 (–1.1) cm, glabrous, undivided, usually entire, rarely with 1–2 remote, very minute teeth, apex ± obtuse. Scapes brownish to purplish green, glabrous or with a few aranose hairs below capitulum, ± overtopping leaves, often nodding after flowering. Capitulum 1.5–2 cm wide. Involucre usually 5–7 mm wide, narrowly rounded at base. Outer phyllaries (8) 9–12 (14), ± not imbricate to slightly so, appressed at base, loosely appressed to arcuate-recurved distally, ovate to lanceolate, (3.8–) 4.4–5.5 (–6.5) × (1.5–) 1.9–2.4 mm, with a black midvein and black-green middle part, with a sharp transition into whitish border usually 0.1–0.3 (–0.4) mm wide (rarely border not developed at all), distal part of phyllaries usually suffused pink, margins usually subdensely minutely ciliate, apex ± flat; inner phyllaries often coalescing, then not numerous (as a rule, less than 8–9), ca. 9–12 mm long, apex ± flat. Ligules of variable colour inside, usually pale lilac, whitish pink or yellowish white, outer ligules flat or cucullate at apex, deep purplish pink outside (pink-purple when dry) and striped light grey-purplish, inner ligule teeth short, purple or grey-purple. Stigmas greenish or greyish light green with darker pubescence outside. Anthers without pollen or less often sparsely polliniferous, then pollen grains irregular in size. Achenes light greyish fulvous, 3.2–3.9 × (0.8–) 0.9–1.0 (–1.1) mm, body subsparsely spinulose and squamulose above, ± gradually or subgradually narrowing into a ± thick (ca. 0.4 mm) subconical cone usually 0.4–0.6 (–0.7) mm long; beak ± thickened (0.2–0.25 mm), easily breaking off, ca. 4–5.2 mm long; pappus ± white, ca. 5 mm long.—Agamospermous.— Fig. 3 , 4B , 11G .

Ecology and distribution: — Taraxacum sublilacinum grows on alpine meadows, in vegetation with high coverage, at little open patches. So far, it has been found between the lake of Uľken Almaty and the Dzhusaly-Kezen Pass, in the Zailiyskiy Alatau Range, Kazakhstan ( Fig. 5 ).

Comparison with close taxa: — Taraxacum sublilacinum approaches T. lilacinum in its leaf shape but differs from it primarily in having outer phyllaries of a broader shape, distally arcuate-recurved, with less distinct borders, and the flower colour, variably pale lilac, white-pinkish or faintly yellowish pink in T. sublilacinum , while T. lilacinum has both sides of florets light pink-violet to deep pink.

Specimens examined: — KAZAKHSTAN. Southeast Kazakhstan, the Zailiyskiy Alatau Range, district of Karasaiskiy Rayon , Almaty, region above the lake of Uľken Almaty (Bolshoe Almatinskoe Ozero), vicinity of the Dzhusaly-Kezen Pass between Pik Almaty (3681 m) and the main summit of Almatynyn-Alatary Mtns. (3954 m), meadows below the research station near the pass, loc. 37, 43° 02‘ 34.1“ N, 76° 56‘ 45.2“ E, 3310 m, 8 Aug 2009, J. Kirschner, root sample 111, cultivated at Inst. Bot. Acad. Sci., Průhonice, Czech Republic, from roots planted in 2009, collected 2010 ( PRA, no. det. 28198).— Ibidem, J. Kirschner 3125 ( PRA, no. det. 28195) ; J. Kirschner 3126 ( PRA, no. det. 28196).— Zailiyskiy Alatau, B. Almatinskoe prokhodnoe ushchelye [the passable ravine of Bolshaya Almatinka], 28 Jun 1938, V. Goloskokov ( AA, no. det. 20077) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Taraxacum sublilacinum from Dzhusaly-Kezen Pass. Note the colour variants.

FIGURE 4. A, T. lilacinum (PRA, no. det. 28204), cultivated. For the general habit of plants from natural habitats, see Kirschner & Štěpánek (1993, Plate 19a). B, T. sublilacinum (PRA, no. det. 28194). Scale bar equals 3 cm.

FIGURE 5. Distribution ranges of Taraxacum chionomelas (square), T. corvinum (triangle), T. lilacinum (circle), T. pseudoatratum (pentagon), and T. sublilacinum (hexagon).

FIGURE 11.Achenes of the members of T. sect. Atrata: G, T. sublilacinum (PRA, #111/2); H, T. orientali-atratum (PRA, no. det. 28210); I, T. pamiricum (PRA, no. det. 28213); J, T. pseudoatratum (LE, no.det. 7973); K, T. pseudolilacinum (PRA, #17); L, T. subglaciale (LE, no. det. 7955). Scale bar = 1 mm.