Centaurea patula (Asteraceae), A Forgotten Species for the Flora of Iran

Centaurea is one of the most complex and largest genera of the family Asteraceae in the World. It is mainly distributed in Europe, the Mediterranean region, and southwest Asia. This genus is polyphyletic and has recently been divided into some monophyletic genera. In Iran, Centaurea contains 109 species in 31 sections that are present in most parts of the country. This research is the result of exact taxonomic study of species of the section Ammocyanus in different herbaria. During this study, it was found that two syntypes collections were cited for C. patula protologue that one of them is attributed to Iran. However, there is no mention of this species in Flora Iranica and in fact C. patula is a forgotten species for Iranian flora. So, C. patula is treated in this study as an existing taxon for the flora of Iran. To clarify the application of this name, it was thus typified and its lectotype image was presented.