Kemulariella tahirelcii Fırat, 2016

Firat, Mehmet, 2016, Kemulariella tahirelcii (Asteraceae; Astereae), a new species from ırnak, Turkey, Phytotaxa 253 (1), pp. 90-96 : 91-93

Kemulariella tahirelcii Fırat , sp. nov.

Diagnosis: — Kemulariella tahirelcii clearly differs from K. colchica in its stems 2‒7 cm tall, densely hispid hairy, whitish green (vs. 10‒20 cm tall, glabrous, purplish), capitula 3.5‒5.5 mm wide (vs. 12‒15 mm wide), ray florets 7‒10 (vs. 15‒20), disc florets 10‒15 (vs. 25‒40), pappus with inner series 2‒4 mm long and outer series 0.3‒0.5 mm long (vs. inner series 5‒6 mm long and outer series 0.75‒1.25 mm long).

Holotype: — TURKEY. C9 Şırnak: Silopi district, Cudi Mountains ( Cîyayê Cûdî ), Herbili region , cracks of limenstone blocky cliffs, 884 m, 37°19′44″ N, 42°38′10″ E, 18 October 2013, M. Fırat 30478 (holotype VANF, isotypes ANK, E, herb. M. Fırat).

Description: —Perennial, plant 2‒7 cm high, rhizome vertical, nodulose, strongly woody at base. Stems ascending to erect, unbranched, slender, numerous, almost cylindrical, whitish green, densely hispid hairy, rather densely leafy. Basal and middle cauline leaves similar, short petiolate or sessile; lamina ovate-orbiculate, 9‒19 mm long and 7‒13 mm wide, sparsely hispid hairy on both surfaces, margins entire or obsoletely 1‒2-serrate and ciliate, apex obtuse, ± attenuate at base; upper cauline leaves sessile, elliptic-lanceolate, 2‒5 mm long and 0.5‒2 mm wide, acute at apex. Peduncles with 1(–2) capitula, slender, densely hispid hairy, slightly thickened below capitulum. Capitulum small, 3.5‒5.5 mm wide. Involucre campanulate. Phyllaries linear-lanceolate, in 3‒4 series, margin scairous; outer phyllaries 1.5‒2 mm long, sparsely lanuginous; middle phyllaries 2‒3 mm long, very sparsely lanuginous; inner phyllaries 3‒5 mm long, glabrous. Ray florets 7‒10 in one row; ligules oblong-oblaceolate, 3‒4 mm long and 2‒2.5 mm wide, white or very pale lilac, 3-denticulate at apex, tube 1‒1.4 mm long, glabrous or very sparsely hairy. Disc florets 10‒15, corolla yellow, bisexual, 3‒3.5 mm long. Achenes 2‒2.5 mm long, compressed laterally, more or less angular, strigose. Pappus biseriate; outer row of very short, whitish, membranous hairs, 0.3‒0.5 mm long; inner row of bristles, exceeding inner involucral bracts, whitish, 2‒2.5 mm long in ray florets and 3.5‒4 mm long in disc florets. ( Figs. 1‒2 ).

Phenology: —Flowering from July to October.

Vernacular name: — Kemulariella sp. are called as “Êsûv” by the local people of the Şırnak province (Fırat 2013).

Etymology: —The name of this new species is given in honour of my dear friend Tahir Elçi, the famous Kurdish lawyer, bar president, and human rights activist, fallen a victim to an unidentified murderer in Diyarbakır on November 28th, 2015.

Distribution: — Kemulariella tahirelcii is endemic to Cudi Mountain (Cîyayê Cûdî), Turkey ( Fig. 3 ).

Habitat and ecology: —The species is a perennial obligate chasmophyte that grows in the cracks of limenstone blocky cliffs at elevations of about 800–1100m, together with plants such as Dianthus orientalis , Ficus carica , Andrachne aspera , Capparis sicula subsp. sicula , Pentapleura subulifera , Campanula radula , Teucrium chasmophyticum , Parietaria rechingeri , Dionysia bornmuelleri , Dionysia odora .

Phytogeography: —The Cudi Mountain (Cîyayê Cûdî), belonging to the Irano-Turanian phytogeographical region, is an interesting area from the botanical aspects. Both the geographic structure and (nowadays) military regulations in the area have long prevented the area to be explored. The first floristic investigation to the area was done by P.H. Davis during 1966‒1985 in the “Hessena” part, where 76 taxa were collected. Nevertheless, the Cudi Mountain (Cîyayê Cûdî) is about 50 km of a mountain chain extending to the Iraqi border, and contains hundreds of other parts like “Hessena”. Many of these parts are not inhabited by humans, which therefore remain as excellent wild habitats. I belive that, with further investigations of the botanists, many new taxa (like e.g. Clinopodium serpyllifolium subsp. sirnakense Fırat & Akçiçek in Fırat et al. (2013: 131) from “Kasrik”, and the new species proposed here) can be identified.

Red list assessment: —The distribution area of Kemulariella tahirelcii is less than 5 km 2 (approximately 1.8 km 2). In the occurrence range, ca. 600 individuals were counted. The species was collected from two localities in rocky crevices. No anthropogenic or grazing effects on the population were observed. Based on these facts, the category of threat for K. tahirelcii is suggested as ‘Vulnerable’ (VU) [criteria B2b (i,ii,iii)] ( IUCN 2014).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Kemulariella tahirelcii: A, E. habits, B. phyllaries, C. leafy stem, D. ray florets and disc florets.

FIGURE 2. Kemulariella tahirelcii: A. capitulum, B. achene and pappus, C. ray florets, D. disc florets.

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Kemulariella tahirelcii (▲) and closely related species K. kolchica (■) in Turkey.