نشریه تاکسونومی و بیوسیستماتیک
سال دوازدهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 44، پاییز 1399)

Medicago sinskiae is a poorly understood but fast-expanding species in western and southwestern Iran. The present study was performed to investigate its relationships with other taxa in the M. rigidula complex including M. constricta, and M. rigidula s.l. (including M. rigiduloides). The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis were conducted on 29 morphological characters. The group was also examined based on the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. The morphological and genetic analyses indicated M. sinskiae (including both spiny and spineless variants) was a separate species, most closely related to M. rigidula and M. rigiduloides. The results also showed that the pod of this species had thornless and thorny varieties. Due to the distribution pattern and its presence in the collected samples, M. sinskiae is considered as a species with rapid expansion in the west and southwest of Iran.

The genus Centaurea is considered as the fourth largest genus belonging to the Asteraceae family that includes ca. 600 species in the world. Due to taxonomic confusions, this genus has recently been divided into four genera: Centaurea s. str., Rhaponticoides, Psephellus, and Cyanus. This research is the result of the nomenclatural study of species of the genus Centaurea and the exact checking of its species with the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. During this study, it was found that Centaurea deflexa Wagenitz (1974) is an illegitimate name as a later homonym of Centaurea deflexa Tat. in Wlangali (1856). So, the name Centaurea sehat-niakii Negaresh nom nov. is proposed here as a replacement name for Centaurea deflexa Wagenitz. In addition, taxonomic position and diagnostic morphological of this and closely related taxons are presented. Also, the relevant synonyms, type details, and habitats are given for C. sehat-niakii. Finally, an image of the lectotype is provided.

Two specimens of Vallisneria denseserrulata from the southeastern part of the Seimareh River in the Iranian province of Ilam were documented as new records for the flora of Iran. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of the specimens using DNA Sequence data from nuclear internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and the plastid matK and trnK 5' intron gene regions revealed that the specimens are not conspecific with V. spiralis that has long been regarded to be the sole representative of the genus in Iran. Although their quite similar appearances do not preclude the possibility of the two siblings as being misidentified with each other, the fact that Vallisneria species are highly cultivated and traded commercially around the world, as well as its resolution within the clade containing the cultivated material of unknown provenance, left open the possibility of it being an escapee from cultivation which has established and naturalized in the region.

The Pieridae family includes the most familiar butterflies also known as Cabbage-White and Grass Yellow. They have a long stable status of the species in this family. A faunistic study on the Pieridae family was carried out in the West of Mazandaran province, Northern Iran. A total of 7 species of the family (5 genera) were collected. These species were: Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758), Pieris (napi) pseudorapae (Verity, 1908), Pieris rapae (Linnaeus, 1758), Aporia crataegi (Linnaeus, 1758), Pontia (daplidice) edusa (Linnaeus, 1758; Fabricius, 1777), Colias crocea (Fourcroy, 1758), and Gonepteryx rhamni (Linnaeus, 1758). For these species, illustrations of adults’ upper wing and lower wing morphology and their male genitalia are given.

Medicago minima (L.) Bartal. has received little agricultural development to date, while having potentially useful traits compared to other “medics”, e.g., annual species of section Spirocarpos. However, the range of variation in M. minima requires further studies. This research assessed the diversity of the pod morphological traits of 13 populations in the southwest, west, northwest, and north of Iran. In addition, variation in nuclear ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (nrITS, ITS 1+5.8s+ITS 2) was evaluated. No geographical patterns of variation in the pod traits were found. The molecular phylogenetic assessments of 7 populations indicated low variability, thus being grouped into a well-supported monophyletic clade (99% Bootstrap support/1.00 Posterior Probability (PP)). Nevertheless, the pod morphological traits exhibited significant variations, most notably in Glandular Hairs (GH), with a coefficient variation of 58%. For breeding and possibly conservation purposes, the following populations demonstrated potentially useful characteristics: (1) Baghcheh population with the highest number of seeds per pod (4.6) and angle of spine insertion (2.87◦); (2) Khoramabad population with a higher number of spines on the middle coil (65.27); and (3) Sarvabad population with the greatest fruit length (3.71 mm), fruit diameter (4.17 mm), Seed Length Trait (SLT) (2.37 mm), and Seed Width Trait (SWT) (1.35 mm). In qualitative traits, Khoramabad, Baghcheh, Marivan, and Paveh populations had higher scores, particularly for glandular pubescence and Simple Hairs (SH) on their pods. Results of the correlation analysis were often null or negative; however, altitude indicated a positive relationship with glandular pubescence and SH. No obvious correlations were found between pod morphology and ITS variation and geographical proximity.

Five new species and a new variety of rust fungi (Pucciniales) are described from Iran: Uromyces matinii on Gagea dubia, Uromyces arasbaranensis on Silene italica, Uromyces taleshensis on Colchicum sp., Uromyces kaviriae on Kaviria gossypina, Uromyces iranensis on Hordeum vulgare, and Puccinia calcitrapae var. cirsii-rhizocephali on Cirsium rhizocephalum. Puccinia suaveolens var. karajensis is proposed as a new combination for Puccinia punctiformis var. karajensis on Cirsium arvense. The following new names are made: Peristemma sonchicola and Uromyces liboschitzii. Several new synonyms (syn. nov.) for already-known rust species are proposed. Several new hosts (matrix nov.) for different rust fungi are also reported. Puccinia aristidae on Stipagrostis plumosa, Puccinia hibisci-trioni on Abelmoschus esculentus and Alcea sp., Puccinia marrubii on Marrubium crassidens, and Puccinia tatarica on Mulgedium tataricum are reported as new members for Iranian rust mycobiota. The aecial state of Puccinia kopetdaghensis is newly described. Identification keys for world-known Uromyces species on the genera Gagea and Silene are provided.