The Iranian Journal of Botany
Volume:8 Issue: 1, Summer and Autumn 1999

Three new species of Boraginaceae are described: Cynoglossum semnanicum from central Iran, Paracaryum khorassanicum from NE. Iran and Solenanthus bakhtiaricus from SW. Iran. Relatives or affinities of the new species are discussed and the differences are explained.

Rosularia subspicata collected in Gorgan and Khorassan provinces is reported as a new record to Iran. Differences of it with close species is discussed.

Specimens of Alriplex semibaccata were collected in a natural habitat in Khuzestan province, Iran. As no former record of the species were observed in Iran, this record of the species from Iran is for the first time.

Cousinia parsana and Cousinia shebliensis are described as new species. These species are related to C. elwendensis Bornm, and C. gilliatii Rech. f. respectively. Description of C. elwendensis is completed.

The genus Noaea is revised in Iran. Three known species of the genus are recognized from Iran. N. mucronata is the most widespread species with three subspecies, including subsp. mucronata, subsp. tournefortii, and subsp. leptoclada. N. mucronata subsp. leptoclada is the new combination. N. major and N. minuta are the annual species with much more restricted distribution and are recorded for the first time from Iran.

A phenetic study of 39 species of the genus Astragalus sect. Hymenostegis Bunge has been done, using more than 400 specimens and 78 characters. Phenogram of the species is given. Astragalus altiusculus and Astragalus pauxillis are described as new from Iran. Astragalus hymenocystis subsp. confiniorum Zarre & Podlech is transferred to species level, and new latin description is written for it. These are all endemic to Iran and belong to the sect. Hymenostegis Bunge.

Nepeta minuticephala and N. bokhonica are described as new species. N. minuticephala belongs to the N. cephalotes Boiss., N. eremokosmos Rech. f. and N. prostrata Benth. group. It is distinguished from the other members of the group by its inflorescence, indumentum and leaf texture. N. bokhonica belongs to the N. glomerulosa Boiss., N. juncea Benth. and N. praetervisa Rech. f. group. The most characteristic feature of the new species is the slender many stemmed habit; stems covered by herbaceous leaves in whole of their length.

Section Sphaerocephalae is a small section of the genus Cousinia (Asteraceae), which is distributed in West Asia. Meiosis is described in four taxa. They were regular with 13 bivalents. Cousinia xiphiolepis had 13 bivalents and 0-3 B-chromosomes. It seems that the chromosome basic number of the section is x= 13. Chiasmata frequency is determined here for the first time.

The peculiarities of rhythm of ephemeroids development of different florocoenotypes which are typical for West Pamiro Alay (Tajikistan) are analysed. We give proof of the subdivision of vegetation with ephemeriod type of development into 3 groups: apparent or true ephemeroids; pseudo-ephemeroids and hemiephemcroids.

Leaflets of 313 specimens including 240 simple haired Astragalus species in 38 sections were taken from the herbarium specimens of Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands (TARI). They were analyzed quantitatively for toxic aliphatic nitro compounds. The catabolites of nitro compounds, 3 - nitro - 1 - propanol and 3-­nitropropionic acid, are especially toxic to cattle and sheep. Nitro compounds were detected in 42 of 313 specimens or in 31 species.

The foliar epidermis of 12 Hyoscyamus species out of 13 species occuring in Iran is described. The most useful anatomical characters are: stomatal occurrence, stomatal index, pattern of anticlinal walls, density and type of trichomes.

This is the second report of chromosome studies from the Iranian Asteraceae. In the present study 28 populations representing 25 species are reported. Chromosome studies of eleven species are new and one species (Carduus seminudus) differring from the previous report. Also, chromosome basic number for the genus Grantia is reported for the first time. Counts for eight additional taxa are the first reports for flora of Iran. Meiotic behavior are noted in some species.

Vincetoxicum assadii and V. mozaffarianii are described as new species from Iran. The differences with related species are also discussed. Probable related species to V. assadii are V. tmoleum Boiss. and V. fuscatum (Hornem.) Rechb. Fil. and those of V. mozaffarianii are V. stocksii Ali & S. Khatoon, V. sakesarense Ali & S. Khatoon and V. amottianum (Wight.) Wight.

Chromosome Counts for 12 Iranian species of Scorzonera L. are reported. Six of them are reported for the first time. Mitotic behavior are noted in some species.

Studies on floral biology, meiotic behaviour and pollen sterility in four cultivars of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rose.) revealed that anthesis in the green house and open field conditions took place between 1-2 P. M. and 9-10 A. M. respectively. The hermaphrodite flowers had "pin" and "thrum" type of incompatibility and the dehisced pollen grains did not reach the stigma head. No seed set of ginger during selfing or cross pollination was recorded. Meiotic studies revealed 30.35 to 40.50% of meiotic index in the studied cultivars of ginger namely Bhaisey, Ernad Chanad, Gorubathaney and Turia Local. Pollen Mother Cells (PMCs) showed incomplete homologous pairing in metaphase I and spindle abnormalities (late separation, laggard chromosomes, sticky bridge and etc.) in anaphase I leading to pollen sterility (60.80%). Lack of seed set inspite of selfing and cross pollination might be due to non-homology in bivalents with irregular segregation of genomic complements leading to sterile garnet formation. Failure of germination of pollen in artificial media (2-15% sucrose solution) was due to the absence of pollen germinating pores and which was confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscopic studies.

153 species of algae are listed from seashores of Persian Gulf and Oman sea, 87 species (48 Rhodophyta, 16 Phaeophyta, 18 Chlorophyta, 3 Xanthophyta and 2 Cyanophyta) are new records for the algal flora of Iran. In 16 cases name of former reports are corrected.