Senecio franchetii Winkler (1889: 165)

Calvo, Joel, Álvarez, Inés & Aedo, Carlos, 2015, Systematics of Senecio section Crociseris (Compositae, Senecioneae), Phytotaxa 211 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

25. Senecio franchetii Winkler (1889: 165) [“Francheti”]. TYPE: Tajikistan, Hissar , in decliv. occid. montium Taschbulak ad sptr. a Kabadian, [38º44'N 69º00'E], 29 Apr / 11 May 1883, A.E. Regel s.n. (lectotype, designated here, LE!; isolectotypes, G-162731!, P-3751790 image!).

Senecio bucharicus Winkler (1890: 335) . TYPE: Tajikistan, Hissar, Buchara orientalis, montis prope Chodschbulak ad orientum a montibus Gasi-Mailik, inter fluvios Wachsch & Kafirnagan, [38º44'N 69º00'E], 7 / 19 May 1883, A . E . Regel s.n. (lectotype, designated here, LE!; isolectotype, LE!) .

Senecio farkharensis Podlech (1968: 113) . TYPE: Afghanistan, Nordost-Afghanistan, Takhar, unteres Farkhar-Tal, Hänge westlich von Farkhar, [36º34'N 69º49'E], 10 May 1965, D. Podlech 10559 (holotype, M-30306 image!; isotype, M-30307 image!, MSB-3309 image!).

Perennial herb. Rhizome 1.4–6 cm long, 0.8–1.5 cm in diam., ± horizontal, with swelled fastigiate roots. Stem 24–106 cm, erect, leaved, corrugated, solid, not ramificated, weakly arachnoid to arachnoid, sometimes floccose near the upper and lower part, base without remnants of old leaves or tufts of hairs. Basal leaves 12.6–32 cm long, 3.9–13 cm wide, ± persistent, usually withering early, lanceolate to broadly elliptic (ratio basal leaf width / basal leaf length = 0.24–0.65), obtuse to acute, attenuate to cuneate, with a petiole 6–27 cm long, rarely subcordate, irregularly dentate, more pronunced at lower third (teeth 1.4–10 mm deep), weakly arachnoid to glabrescent, concolorous. Cauline leaves 4–10; middle cauline leaves 14–32 cm long, 2.5–8.2 cm wide, alternate, lanceolate to oblanceolate (ratio middle leaf width / middle leaf length = 0.18–0.35), acute, semi-amplexicaul to attenuated into a petiole up to 7.5 cm long, irregularly dentate (teeth 0.8–6.0 mm deep), weakly arachnoid to covered with scattered trichomes, tertiary venation inconspicuous; upper cauline leaves 2–7.4 cm long, 0.2–2.3 cm wide, (ratio upper leaf width / upper leaf length = 0.05–0.45), acute, sessile to semi-amplexicaul auriculate, entire to slightly dentate (teeth 1–1.3 mm deep), weakly arachnoid to covered with scattered trichomes. Synflorescence 3–24 cm long, corymbose, rarelly pseudoumbelliform, with linear-oblong bracts. Capitula (1–)4–8(–15), 24.5–49.5 mm in diam.; involucre 11–22 mm in diam., 11–15 mm long, cupuliform; involucral bracts (16–)19–21(–24), 9.1–13.9 mm long, 1.1–2.9 mm wide, with scarious margin 0.2–0.6 mm wide, ensiform, attenuate, 0–3-keeled, apex rarely with a faint black spot, weakly arachnoid to arachnoid; supplementary bracts 8–10(–11), 5–12.9 mm long, 0.5–1.1 mm wide, subulate, without scarious margin, a half to as long as involucral bracts, weakly arachnoid to arachnoid, not imbricated. Ligulate florets 10–13, 18.7–37.4 mm long, yellow; tubular florets 8.5–10.9 mm long, 0.9–1.8 mm in diam., yellow. Achenes 6.6–9.2 mm long, 1.2–1.9 mm wide, subcylindrical (ratio achene width / achene length = 0.13–0.27), shorter than pappus (ratio achene length / pappus length = 0.63–0.80), with 12–16 ribs, with trichomes covering ± the whole surface 0.2–0.4 mm long; pappus 10.3–12.9 mm long, whitish. Chromosome number: unknown.

SYSTEMATICS OF SENECIO SECTION CROCISERIS

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Iconography: — Nordenstam (1989b: tab. 44).

Distribution and habitat: — Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan; rocky slopes, clay slopes, steppe meadows, shrubs with Juniperus and Pistacia ; elevations of 750–3850 m ( Figure 31 ).

Phenology: — Flowering from April to July.

Etymology: — Senecio franchetii is named in honor of Adrien Rene Franchet (1834–1900), French botanist who worked at the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris.

Discussion: — Senecio franchetii is a robust plant characterized by displaying large lanceolate basal leaves, usually withering early, and achenes notably larger than in most of the Crociseris species. It is a variable species regarding the involucre indumentum and capitula number. The large size of the achenes is a character shared with S. olgae and S. paulsenii , which are all from Central Asia and represent the southeastern limit of Senecio sect. Crociseris . They also usually have the lower half of the stem and the petioles of the basal leaves violet coloured, a character that can be rarely found in the other Crociseris species. It differs from S. olgae in the leaf shape and in characters of the capitulum. Senecio franchetii has its basal leaves lanceolate to broadly elliptic, attenuate to cuneate, rarely subcordate, while those in S. olgae are deltate to lyrate, sometimes broadly ovate, truncate to cordate. The supplementary bracts tend to be numerous in S. franchetii [8–10(–11) vs. (3–)4–6(–8)], slightly longer, and more pubescent. The number of involucral bracts is also usually higher in S. franchetii [(16–)19–21(–24) vs. (13–)16–19(–22)], and they are clearly keeled in blooming, while S. olgae bears smooth and wider involucral bracts. The indumentum of the capitula is slightly arachnoid in S. franchetii , while in S. olgae it is rarely arachnoid, sometimes only on the base of the capitula. Both species partially overlap their ranges between southeastern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, where some specimens display intermediate morphology and therefore the mentioned characters are not clear. Senecio franchetii also might be confused with S. paulsenii and S. lopezii (see comments under respective species).

It has to be noted that the collection year of the isolectotype kept at P should be 1883 instead of 1833.

Selected specimens examined. AFGHANISTAN. Badakhshan: oestl. Seitental des Darya-e Mashad oberhalb Kangurchi, 36º44’N, 70º6’E, 22 May 1971, O. Anders 6631 ( KU); Kleines Seitental des Keshem-Tales östlich

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Kangurchi, 36º44’N, 70º9’E, 22 May 1971, D. Podlech 21439 ( G, LE, M). Samangan: Kotal-i-Mirza Atbili pass on the road from Pule-Khumri to Samangan (Aybak), 36º11’N, 68º18’E, 14 May 1972, I . Kukkonen 6210 ( H). Takhar: Koh-i-Ishkamish, Gebirgsrand 7 km südöstlich von Ishkamish, 36º15’N, 69º33’E, 14 May 1965, D. Podlech 10625 ( E, M); Gebirgsrand 12 km SO von Eshkamesh , 36º19’N, 69º24’E, 24 May 1971, D. Podlech 21572 ( G, LE, M). KYRGYZSTAN. Batken: Fergana Oblast’, Skobelev uyezd, Okhna, 40º2’N, 71º39’E, 21 May 1913, G . I . Dolenko 431 ( LE); Fergana Oblast’, Margelan uyezd, near Sary-Kamysh , north slopes, 40º7’N, 71º11’E, 24 Apr 1913, N . A . Dessiatoff 304 ( LE). Osh: Kirgizia, Osh Oblast’, Frunze rayon, ridges of the Alay range, north-east slope, 40º14’N, 72º58’E, 6 May 1968, N . V . Gorbunova & Ubukeeva s.n. ( LE). TAJIKISTAN. Districts of Republican Subordination: north slope of Peter the First Range , near Kchi-tupchok track, 39º2’N, 70º52’E, 3 Aug 1935, J . S . Grigorjev 58 ( LE); North slopes of the Babatag range opposite to Gissar , 38º26’N, 68º30’E, 29 May 1930, G . L . Kudrjaschova 174 ( LE). Gorno-Badakhshan: South Tajikistan, mountains near Bag qishlaq on the Pyandzh river , east of the qishlaq, north slopes, 37º59’N, 71º42’E, 31 May 1960, T . V . Egorova & V . P . Bochantsev 730 ( LE); Shughnan, canyon of the Bidzhun river , 37º32’N, 71º58’E, 31 May 1914, N . N . Tuturin & P . I . Bessedin 679 ( LE). Khatlon: South Tajikistan, near Tutkaul qishlaq, 38º17’N, 69º16’E, 12 June 1960, T . V . Egorova & V . P . Bochantsev 1286 ( LE); pass Kargisht , between Zagara and Hozratino ranges, 38º35’N, 70º12’E, 13 June 1986, R . V . Kamelin, N . Safarov & Halipov 1078 ( U); The Emirate of Bukhara, Baldzhuan principate, Guli-zindan pass, 38º14’N, 69º26’E, 6 May 1906, R . Y . Roshevitz 575 ( LE). Sughd: Tadzhikistania, in clivis australibus jugi Zeravschan, ad fl. Tjurochot , 39º10’N, 68º37’E, 2 July 1935, V . Nikitin 4198 ( BM, C, F, G, H, LE, MO, NY, S, US). UZBEKISTAN. Surxondaryo: South-east end of the Babatag range opposite to Gissar , north-east slope, upper than Dzhanbulak qishlaq, 38º11’N, 68º17’E, 7 May 1938, I . A . Linczevski 106 ( LE); South-east slopes of the Babatag range opposite to Akmechet’ , below Charraga pass, north-east slope, 38º4’N, 68º18’E, 2 June 1938, I . A . Linczevski 258 ( LE) .

Figures

FIGURE 31. Distribution map for Senecio franchetii Winkler (●), S. olgae Regel & Schmalhausen (∆), and S. paulsenii Hoffmann subsp. paulsenii (○).