Orobanche coerulescens Stephan

Piwowarczyk, Renata, Pedraja, Óscar Sánchez, Moral, Gonzalo Moreno, Fayvush, George, Zakaryan, Narine, Kartashyan, Nune & Aleksanyan, Alla, 2019, Holoparasitic Orobanchaceae (Cistanche, Diphelypaea, Orobanche, Phelipanche) in Armenia: distribution, habitats, host range and taxonomic problems, Phytotaxa 386 (1), pp. 1-106 : 49

1. Orobanche coerulescens Stephan in Willdenow (1800: 349) ( Turland et al. 2018:Art. 46.2 Note 2). TYPE (mentioned by Novopokrovskij & Tzvelev 1958: 72):— KAZAKHSTAN: Sibiria versus Mare Caspium [vicinity of Inderskoe lake], Stephan (LE s.n.); syntype (HAL-0090414!). Homotypic synonym:— Orobanchella coerulescens (Stephan) Piwow., M. Nobis & J. Madeja (2014: 12) . Heterotypic synonyms:— O. ammophila C.A. Mey in Ledebour (1830: 454); O. korshinskyi Novopokrovskij (1950: 311) ; O. coerulescens var. albiflora O. Kuntze (1887: 225) . Fig. 33A .

Distribution: —Only in the northern part of central Armenia, in the Gegharkunik province, N of Lake Sevan ( Fig. 34).

General distribution: —Eurasian species, occurring from central Europe (eastern Germany and Austria), through eastern Europe, Caucasus and central Asia to Korea and Japan. It is very scarce in central Europe, and the main center of its range is associated with the steppe or sandy areas of central and eastern Asia.

Habitat: —Rocky slope with steppe communities, over 2000 m.

Hosts: — Artemisia sp. , in our study territory it is parasitic on A. campestris subsp. inodora Nyman [ A. marschalliana Spreng. , nom. nov.] ( Asteraceae ).

Phenology: —Flowering June to July, fruiting July–August.

Conservation status: —Critically Endangered (CR) – B 1 ab (iii) + 2 ab (iii); D. Only one location is known in Armenia. The population is small, ca. 25 shoots, often a few shoots in one clump. Limiting factors are restricted EOO and AOO, and the proximity of human settlements, railways, and main roads.

Notes: —Previously the species had been reported for the Caucasus from Transcaucasia (planitie ad Araxem) (Koch 1844: 291) and from Ciscaucasia (Dagestan, Republic of Kabardino-Balkar, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania and Stavropol Krai) (Marschall von Bieberstein 1818: 82, Beck 1930: 120, Novopokrovskij & Tzvelev 1958: 72). Notwithstanding, it was only known, for sure, from Ciscaucasia. In recent times, new localities have been confirmed in Transcaucasia (Lesser Caucasus), Georgia (Piwowarczyk & Kwolek in Nobis et al. 2015), and Armenia (Piwowarczyk & Denysenko in Nobis et al. 2016). The species is quite easy to distinguish from related taxa in the Caucasus, because of the characteristic thick stem, numerous, geniculately bent blue flowers, without bracteoles and strongly hairy stem and flowers ( Fig. 33A ). Individuals with ± white or white-yellow flowers have been recognized as O. korshinskyi Novopokr. or O. coerulescens var. albiflora O. Kuntze , and reported in southern European Russia, Siberia, Mongolia, Japan and China, but they are possibly only a colour variant of O. coerulescens ( Novopokrovskij & Tzvelev 1958) . O. coerulescens is an important medicinal resource of acteoside, crenatoside, and phenylethanoid glycosides. The entire plant is used medicinally for invigorating and strengthening the kidneys, yang, bones and muscles, to cure fatigue and promote fertility (estrogenic iridoids), especially in China and Japan ( Zhang & Tzvelev 1998, Wiart 2012).

Specimens examined: — ARMENIA. Gegharkunik prov.: between Semyonovka and Tsovagyugh, rocky grasslands, on slope with southwestern exposure, parasitic on Artemisia , 2005 m, 9 July 2015, R . Piwowarczyk ( KTC) .

Figures

FIGURE 33. General habit of: A. Orobanche coerulescens, B. O. cernua, C. O. grenieri, D. O. lutea, E. O. caryophyllacea, F. O. zajaciorum. Photos by Renata Piwowarczyk.