The Iranian Journal of Botany
Volume:16 Issue: 2, Summer and Autumn 2010

The series Cousinia sect. Leptocephalae ser. Chaetocephalae is raised to sectional rank as a comb. nov. It is characterized from the closely related section Leptocephlae by having solitary heads at the top of stems and branches, sessile stem leaves and yellow corolla. Three species namely Cousinia crassipes, C. attariae and C. chaetocephala are included in the new section. C. attariae is described as a new species from the mountains near Esfarayen in Khorasan province.

Cousinia iranshahriana (sect. Albidae) collected from rocky hills of Baneh, Kurdistan province, is described as a new species and photographed. It is compared with its closest relative, C. bachtiarica.Farideh Attar (correspondence fattar@khayam.ut.ac.ir), Central Herbarium of Tehran University, Department of Botany, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran. -Hosein Maroofi, Research Center of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Kurdistan province, P. O. Box 66169-36311-714, Iran.

Cousinia karkasensis a narrow endemic from central Iran is described as a new species to science. The new species belongs to Cousinia sect. Haussknechtianae. Relatioships between the new species and other species is discussed. The new species is however more resembles to C. gatchsaranica based on the morphological characters, it is found to be more related to C. raphiocephala another member of the section Haussknechtianae, based on the molecular results.Iraj Mehregan (correspondence iraj@daad-alumni.de), Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran. -Seyedeh Bahereh Djavadi (sb_djavadi@hotmail.com) and Amir Hossein Pahlevani, Department of Botany, Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, P. O. Box 1454, Tehran, 19395, Iran.

Three new species including Centaurea procera (Compositae), Convolvulus elymaiticus (Convolvulaceae) and Scrophularia elymaitica (Scrophulariaceae) are described and illustrated. In addition, two new records are introduced from Ilam province including Capparis spinosa L. var. leucophylla (DC.) Boiss. (Capparaceae) and Ephedra transitora Riedl (Ephedraceae). Taxonomic characters are given for all species

Satureja kermanshahensis is described as a new species from Iran. It is characterized by a dense columnar spicate inflorescence, 3-10 cm long, verticillasters 2-flowered and densely glandular pubescent leaves. It grows in crevices of rocks in Kermanshah province in western Iran. It is compared with S. coerulea from Bulgaria, Romania and NW Turkey, S. bachtiarica and S. edmondi growing in western Iran.

Among the rich materials of the genus Arenaria L. collected from different localities of Iran deposited in TARI and HSBU, a new species, Arenaria kandavanensis was recognized and is described here. A comparison between the new species and its closest relative, A. lychnidea M. Bieb. in Arenaria sect. Capillares McNeill. is presented.

The specimens collected from different parts of Khorassan province were revised. Based on this study two species of Astragalus from the section Ammodendron Bunge, namely Astragalus qohestanicus and A. khonikensis are introduced and described as new species from NE of Iran. These species have been collected from NE of Iran and are preserved in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad Herbarium (FUMH). The illustrations of the new species are presented.

A short review of the genus Neotorularia is presented. Altogether, three species including N. torulosa, N. contortuplicata and N. dentata are known from Iran. Neotorularia dentata var. grandiflora is described as a new variety to the science. The specimens of the new variety have been collected from NE. of Iran (Khorassan province). The new variety differs from the type variety mainly by the size of flower organs. Key to the taxa and illustration of the new variety is given.

Centropodia forskalii subsp. forskalii (Poaceae) is reported as a new record for the flora of Iran. This plant grows on sand dunes of SW and SE of Iran. Taxonomical and phytogeographical studies for two subspecies of C. forskalii are provided. It seems that Iran is a transitional zone for two subspecies in the Saharo-Sindian and Irano-Turanian regions.

For the preparation of aquatic Flora of Iran treatment, the families Najadaceae and Lemnaceae were studied. Among them, the specimens of Najas gracillima were collected from Khuzestan province wetland and the specimens of Lemna perpusilla were collected from Fars province wetland for the first time for the aquatic flora of Iran. In this paper, the two species are reported from Iran. Key to the species of both genera is presented for the species occurring in Iran.

Betula litwinowii Doluch., discovered from northern Iran, is reported as a new record for the flora of Iran. Morphological characteristics of this species are compared to its closest relative, Betula pendula Roth. In addition, the geographical distribution of these two taxa in Iran and adjacent regions is discussed.

During a trip to Khuzestan province, SW Iran, the specimens of Eleocharis atropurpurea, Cyperus iria, Fimbristylis miliacea and Schoenoplectus lupulinus were collected. Eleocharis atropurpurea is recorded as a new report to Iran, the others are rare plant records from Iran.

Handelia trichophylla (Asteraceae-Anthemideae), recently collected from Iran, is a new record for the flora of Iran. A description, distribution, its phytogeographical importance and an illustration are given.

During the study of the tribe Inuleae (Asteraceae) in ERE herbarium some new record species are recognized for flora Armenia. These species are: Filago desertorum Pomel, Helichrysum davisianum Rech. f., and Gnaphalium stewartii C. B. Clarke ex Hook. f. Here the taxa are compared with their closest relatives. Distribution map and pictures of these species are provided.

Persicaria lapathifolia subsp. nodosa is recorded for the first time for the flora of Iran. Morphological variation of this taxon in Iran has been studied. This subspecies differs from P. lapathifolia subsp. lapathifolia by having densely glandular peduncles and leaves with golden glands beneath. The most characteristic features of this subspecies are presence of red spots on the stem and having smaller and lax spikes.

Chromosomes counting and flow cytometry method were used for assessing the ploidy level of various Aegilops cylindrica Host (2n=4x=28, CCDD) accessions of the National Plant Gene Bank of Iran (NPGBI). About 100 different accessions of Ae. cylindrica were estimated in flow cytometry analysis by using Ae. tauschii as a control sample. All the studied accessions fitted in 4x ploidy level. Chromosomes counts and flow cytometry data led to the same results. There was significant diversity in DNA index among Ae. cylindrica accessions. Cluster analysis was used for the classification of Ae. cylindrica based on their DNA content. Interestingly, accessions with smaller and larger DNA index had smaller and larger chromosome length, respectively. Also, the study of the relationship of DNA content and geographical distribution in Iran showed that there is diversity in DNA content of Ae. cylindrica for different areas of Iran.

Puccinellia dolicholepis collected from NW. of Iran is reported as a new record from Iran and Flora Iranica area. It is also compared with its closest relative spesies P. bulbosa in Iran.

Heliocarya monandra is a rare endemic species of Boraginaceae that grows in a limited area in central Iran. Since there has been no comprehensive study of this species, morphological and anatomical properties of it were investigated. For this, plant samples were collected from a locality on the Soffeh Montain in the south of Isfahan city in central Iran. Sections of leaf, stem and root were taken manually and prepared according to the current laboratory methods for light microscopic examination. The measurements were done in at least 5 replicates. Some properties of fruit and seed were described. Fruit consisted of an ovoid or orbicular one-seeded nutlet with 4-6 (-7) mm length, 2.5-4 mm width and 0.8-1 mm thickness. Seed was also 1.8-2 mm long, ovoid, with a curved beak. The leaf was isobilateral with anomocytic stomata. The root showed secondary structure. The stem had also both primary and secondary tissues. The results in morphology and anatomy were in agreement with general characteristics of the family Boraginaceae except for some differences. Details of fruit and seed are reported for the first time. Fruit characters are especially important to clarifying taxonomic relationships in the family. According to field observations, there is only one population of this species in Isfahan province and it seems that this population is at risk of disappearing in nature.

In this survey, basal leaf midrib region and peduncle anatomy of 15 species of the genus Papaver L. was studied. Species examined include Papaver argemone, P. bracteatum, P. chelidoniifolium, P. cylindricum, P. decaisnei, P. dubium, P. fugax, P. gaubae, P. glaucum, P. hybridum, P. macrostomum, P. orientale, P. pavoninum, P. persicum and P. tenuifolium. Among 27 anatomical characters examined (18 for midrib region and nine characters for peduncle), five characters in midrib region including midrib shape, presence of upper collenchyma, presence of sclerenchyma together with parenchyma layer, number of lateral vascular bundles and growth’s range of lateral vascular bundles and five characters in peduncle including peduncle shape, pattern of epidermis surface, presence of collenchyma in cortex, type of supporting tissue near vascular bundles and circles of vascular bundles are useful for separating the annual, biennial and perennial species.

Foliar anatomy of nine species of genus Salix belonging to different subgenera including Salix aegyptiaca, S. caprea, S. cinerea, S. elbursensis, S. euxina, S. issatissensis, S. triandra, S. wilhelmsiana, and S. zygostemon (S. cinerea × S. elbursensis) were studied using light microscope. Several features of leaf anatomy, i. e. transverse section outline, lamina thickness, epidermis characteristics, hypodermis existence, mesophyll features, crystal types, vascular bundles characteristics, etc. are discussed here. Several anatomical characters in this study confirm the infrageneric classification of Salix. On the base of presence or absence of hypodermis layer in lamina, the genus Salix can be divided into two types. The outline of the transverse sections and stomata type differ among sect. Cinerella and the other sections. The delimitation of the closely related species of S. aegyptiaca, S. caprea and S. cinerea belong to sect. Cinerella is difficult, but they can be distinguished based on some anatomical characters. This study has provided interesting results about the studied hybrid S. zygostemon.

The geographic distribution of the family Fabaceae (except the genus Astragalus) in Iran has been analyzed using a dataset of 10408 georeferenced observations. The 429 species of the family is distributed in whole Iran; however, about half of the observations are from provinces like, Fars, Hormozgan, Tehran, Bushehr and Mazandaran. The family has 173 rare species and 117 endemic species. The highest record for the maximum distance between two observations of one species (MaxD) is 2140 kilometer. East-Azerbaijan, Khorasan Razavi, Fars, Lorestan and West-Azerbaijan have the highest number of rare species. Species richness was mapped with the point-to-grid richness analysis tool DIVA-GIS, using a 10×10 kilometer grid cell and the circular neighborhood option with a 50 km radius. High species richness occurs in Fars, Gilan and Lorestan; also in Central Alborz where the hotspot for endemic species is located. Forty four 10×10 kilometer grid cells are needed to capture all species at once. But ninety percent of the species can be captured in only twenty grid cells, which have the most conservative importance for this group of plants.

Cyanophyta of some paddy fields of Golestan Province (North of Iran and near Caspian Sea) have been studied between autumn 2006 and summer 2007. Lyngbya perelegans, L. rubida, L. laxespiralis, L. sordida, L. putealis, L. dendrobia, L. scotii, L. polysiphoniae, L. erugineo–coerulea, L. cryptovaginata, L. spiralis, L. nigra, L. kashyapii are new records for Golestan province and Iran. Results showed that Lyngbya rubida, in spring and winter, L. perelegan in summer, L. kashyapii and L. dendrobia in autumn were dominant species in all stations. Morphological characteristics of these species and some information about their ecological distribution are given.