A TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS TRIFOLIUM L. SECT. FRAGIFERA KOCH (FABACEAE) IN IRAN

We reviewed the taxonomic status of the Iranian material of Trifolium sect. Fragifera (Vesicaria). A critical study of 156 accessions collected specifically for this study and additional 160 herbarium specimens led to the discovery of one new variety, T. tumens Steven ex M. Bieb. var. caespitosum Haerinasab and reporting two new records, T. tomentosum L. var. chthonocephalum Bornm. and T. clusii Godr. & Gren. var. gossypinum Zohary. In addition, six synonymies are made: T. fragiferum L. var. pulchellum Lange as a synonym of T. fragiferum, T. tumens var. talyschense (Khalilov) Zoh. as a synonym of T. tumens var. tumens, T. physodes Stev. ex M. B. var. psilocalyx Boiss. as a synonym of T. physodes, T. resupinatum L. var. microcephalum Zoh. as a synonym of T. resupinatum var. resupinatum, T. bullatum Boiss. & Hausskn. ex Boiss. var. macrosphaerum Zoh. as a synonym of T. bullatum and T. tomentosum L. var. curvisepalum (Täckh.) Thieb. as a synonym of T. tomentosum var. tomentosum. Furthermore, we made some nomenclatural corrections for the Iranian material of the genus Trifolium sect. Fragifera. A taxonomic key to the Trifolium taxa sect. Fragifera was constructed and presented here.