Centaurea haussknechtii Boissier (1875: 670)

Negaresh, Kazem & Rahiminejad, Mohammad Reza, 2018, A revision of Centaurea sect. Cynaroides (Asteraceae, Cardueae-Centaureinae), Phytotaxa 363 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

15. Centaurea haussknechtii Boissier (1875: 670) . Type:— TURKEY. C6 Gaziantep: in graminosis calcareis montis Ssoffdagh (So f Da.) Syriae borealis, 1070 m, 27 July 1865, Haussknecht s.n. (lectotype G! designated by Wagenitz 1960: 490, isolectotypes G!, JE!: two sheets, W!). ( Fig. 32 )

Biennial herbs, with long and stout taproot, whole plant usually grayish or green-yellowish, 50–60 cm tall; collar of fibrous petiolar remains present at stem base. Stem erect, simple, 2–5 mm in diam. at base, cylindrical, sparsely leafy throughout, lower part purplish and loosely covered with hirsute-articulate hairs, others ± densely covered with white-tomentose hairs. Leaves firm or rigid (on drying), usually divided, densely covered with white-tomentose hairs, sometimes basal and lower ones sparsely covered with hirsute-articulate hairs, denser along midrib and veins, and mixed with tomentose hairs. Basal and lower cauline leaves petiolate, (7–) 12–30 cm long, lyrate; terminal segments larger, oblong, triangular-ovate or lanceolate, 4–10 × (1.2–) 2–6 cm, entire or shallowly serrulate, obtuse or truncate at base, acute or rounded at apex; lateral segments smaller, 1–2 pairs, lanceolate or ± retrorse. Median and upper cauline leaves sessile, simple, oblong or narrowly oblong, 2–10 × 0.5–1.5 cm, very shortly decurrent, sometimes not decurrent, entire, acuminate or mucronate at apex. Capitula few, 4 to 7, arranged in a spike or raceme, often sessile or subsessile, sometimes with 2–6 cm peduncles. Involucres ovoid, truncate at base, (33–)35–40 × 30–35 mm. Phyllaries multiseriate, yellow-greenish, imbricate, coriaceous-scarious, glabrous.Appendages rigid, totally concealing phyllaries, not decurrent, lanceolate, straw-coloured or pale brown, 3–4(–4.5) mm wide at base (excluding cilia), sometimes squarrose or reflexed; cilia erect, numerous, 7–9 on each side, 5–7 mm long; spines narrowly triangular, (7–) 15–17 mm long, strongly longer than nearest cilia. Flowers pink-purple; central florets hermaphroditic, limb ca. 14 mm long, 5-lobed, lobes ca. 6 mm long; peripheral florets sterile, slightly shorter than central ones, conspicuous, finely dissected, not radiant, 5-lobed, limb lobes linear. Achenes and pappus unknown.

Taxonomic and distribution remarks: — Centaurea haussknechtii is a rare endemic of Gaziantep Province, S Turkey ( Fig. 30 ). Centaurea haussknechtii is an Irano-Turanian element, and grows on limestone, grassland and calcareous mountains, at elevations of 1000–1100 m. It closely resembles C. doddsii in its habit.

Chromosome numbers: — Askoy et al. (2016) reported the chromosome number 2 n = 2 x = 18 for Centaurea haussknechtii collected from Turkey, Siverek-Kahta (Adıyaman). This is the only count for this taxon.

Selected specimens examined:— TURKEY. Taurus cataonicus, 1865, Haussknecht s.n. ( G!).

Figures

FIGURE 30. Distribution of Centaurea gudrunensis (circles), C. haradjianii (squares), and C. haussknechtii (triangles).

FIGURE 32. Centaurea haussknechtii Boissier (Haussknecht s.n., G). A. habit. B. close up of capitule. Scale B = 1 cm.