Centaurea farsistanica (Wagenitz) Ranjbar & Negaresh

Ranjbar, Massoud & Negaresh, Kazem, 2013, A revision of Centaurea sect. Phaeopappus (Asteraceae, Cardueae), Phytotaxa 123 (1), pp. 1-40 : 14

5. Centaurea farsistanica (Wagenitz) Ranjbar & Negaresh , comb. & stat. nov. Fig. 6 .

Basionym : Centaurea aucheri subsp. farsistanica Wagenitz (1980: 361) . Type: SE IRAN. Yassuj, 2650 m, 16 June 1973, Soják 6596 (holotype PR!) .

Phaeopappus leuzeoides Boiss. var. integrifolius Boissier (1875: 597) . Phaeopappus aucheri (DC.) Heimerl var. integrifolius (Boiss.) Bornmüller (1907: 224) . Type: IRAN. Prov. Fars: Perezend, Aucher-Eloy 4835 (lectotype K! designated here, isolectotype P!, photo BASU!).

Perennial with woody rhizome, up to 20 cm tall; collum covered with abundant brown fibrous remains of petioles of previous year. Stem erect, rigid, cylindrical, always simple, ca. 3 mm in diam. at the base. Leaves and stem densely floccose-tomentose. Basal leaves distinctly large, 12–16 cm long, pinnatisect or lyrate, rarely undivided, segments in 6–10 pairs, lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, terminal segments usually much larger, mucronate or acuminate at apex. Lower cauline leaves lyrate, ca. 10–11 cm long, segments in 1–2 pairs, lateral segments narrowly lanceolate, terminal segments very large and broadly lanceolate, petiole up to 3 cm long, mucronate or acuminate at apex. Median cauline leaves sessile, undivided, broadly lanceolate or lanceolate, rarely lyarte, lateral segments narrowly lanceolate, mucronate at apex. Upper cauline leaves sessile, undivided, rarely lyrate, 7–9 cm long, lanceolate or oblong, almost longer than capitula, elongated into a mucro in the apex. Capitula 1 on sessile peduncles; involucres subglobose, ca. 30 × 25–35 mm. Phyllaries multiseriate, imbricate, greenish, coriaceous, glabrous and smooth. Appendages concealing a major part of phyllaries, broadly triangular or orbicular, innermost lacerate, 8–12 mm wide (cilia excluded), completely dark brown; cilia indistinct, numerous, narrowly triangular, dark brown, 1–3 mm long; spine 3–4 mm long, slightly longer than the nearest cilia. Flowers purple or white (in dry state) or yellow. Achenes oblong, 6–7.5 mm long, 3–3.5 mm wide, brown, glabrous. Pappus multiseriate, persistent, scabrous, 15–18 mm long.

Taxonomic and distributional remarks: — Centaurea farsistanica is distributed in Kohgeloyeh va Boyer Ahmad, Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari and Fars Provinces, SE Iran ( Fig. 2 ). It has a narrower distribution than the other species of C. sect. Phaeopappus in Iran. Centaurea farsistanica grows in high mountains at elevations of 2000–3000 m. It seems that its assignment as a subspecies of C. aucheri is incorrect, because there are many clear differences between C. farsistanica and C. aucheri (see Table 3). Centaurea farsistanica grows far from the main distribution area of the typical C. aucheri (see Fig. 2 ), and prefers higher elevations than C. aucheri .

Chromosome numbers: —Unknown.

Selected specimens examined:— IRAN. Prov. Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari: Tang-e Sayad protected region, in Pir Kuh 32 km to Shahr Kord , 2400–2700 m, Rechinger 47162 ( W!) . Prov. Kohgeloyeh va Boyer Ahmad: 27 km E Yassuj, 2650 m, 16 June 1973, Soják 6596 ( PR!) , 6602 ( PR!), 6606 ( PR!). Prov. Fars: Kakun, Mirzayan 12240-E ( IRAN!) ; Kohmer 41 km NW Ardakan, 2000 m, Soják 6715 ( PR!) ; Kuh-e Sar Sefid near Moshgan ( Mashkar ), 2700–3000 m, Moussavi & Tehrani 33810-E ( IRAN!) ; Sawers mountains, Haussknecht s.n. ( W!) (syntype of Phaeopappus leuzeoides var. integrifolius ) . Prov. Alborz: in valley Taleghan and Dudera mountain Elburz, 1 July 1843, Kotschy 431a (P!, K!, E!), 512a (P!, E!) (syntype of Ph. leuzeoides var. integrifolius ) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distribution of Centaurea albonitens (1), C. spectabilis (2), C. aucheri (3), C. phaeopappa (4), C. assadii (5), C. indistincta (6), C. farsistanica (7), C. phaeopappa subsp. jiroftensis (8), and C. handelii (9) in Iran.

FIGURE 6. Centaurea farsistanica (Wagenitz) Ranjbar & Negaresh; (A and B: Soják 6596, PR). A. close up of capitule. B. habit.