1
Here, we describe and illustrate a new alpine species of
Se describe e ilustra una nueva especie alpina de Irán, perteneciente a
Recent molecular phylogenetic studies on the section, using nuclear and plastid DNA, indicated that some subspecies formerly described should be elevated to specific rank (Naderi-Safar & al.
While identifying plants collected from the Bul Mt., one of the most interesting Zagros Mountain ranges in the Fars province, a curious, mountain-dwelling species of
After Polak and Pichler’s 1882 collections from Iran, Otto Stapf made an excursion to the Fars province and adjacent areas in southern Iran with the supporting from Memoires of Imperial Academy of Vienna (1885-86) (Stapf
Following the mistake of Index Kewensis (Hill & Salisbury
Specimens of some
Total genomic DNA was isolated from fresh or dried leaf material using the modified CTAB method of Doyle & Doyle (
For the phylogenetic reconstruction, 32 species belonging to
The distribution map was prepared using existing herbarium specimens (B, IRAN, K, M, MSB, TARI, W, WU; Thiers
Three endemic and rare species,
The ITS nrDNA data matrix of 33 accessions, representing 32 species, included 614 nucleotide sites, of which 95 (15.5%) were variable and 40 (6.5%) were parsimoniously informative. Phylogenetic analysis of ITS nrDNA data recovered a paraphyletic section
The new species might be confused with
Image of the holotype of
It differs from
Plant suffruticose to densely caespitose, woody at base, 10 cm tall and 15 cm in diameter. All vegetative parts densely covered with spreading to sub-appressed short hairs 0.5–1 mm, on the calyx 2.5–3 mm long. Stipules 5 mm long, membranous, shortly lanceolate, 3 mm adnate to petiole, other side free from each other, free portion lanceolate, 2 mm long, densely covered with appressed hairs, ciliate on the margin. Leaves 2–2.5 (3) cm long, rachis thin, flexible, terminating to a distinct spine, 5 mm long; petioles short, thin, 1 mm long; leaflets 6–7 pairs, remote, oblong to obovate, small, 3 mm long and 2 mm wide, obtuse or rarely emarginate at apex, attenuate to the base, densely covered with spreading to ascending hairs; both petioles and rachis densely to loosely covered with appressed hairs, 0.5–1 mm long, upper side densely to sparsely hairy, lower side more densely hairy. Inflorescence pedunculate, peduncle 1.5 cm long, shorter than leaves, covered by more spreading hairs, raceme remote, with 2 flowers. Pedicel 2 mm long covered with spreading hairs. Bracts hairy, membranous, 4 mm long; bracteoles linear to lanceolate, hairy, 2.5 mm long, at the base of calyx tube. Calyx tubular, 15 mm long, covered with long appressed white hairs and purplish parallel venation in flowering time, slightly inflated in fruiting time; teeth subulate, 5 mm long. Corolla pale purplish to purple with darker purple venation. Standard 20 mm long; limb obovate, retuse to emarginate at apex, gradually attenuate toward the claw, inner side sparsely hairy; claw 10 mm long; wings 18 mm long, at the base with short auricle; claw 12 mm long; keel 17 mm long, limb obovate, triangular, 5 mm wide, claw 12 mm long. Ovary pilose, minutely stipitate, stipe 1 mm long. Pods unknown.
Phylogenetic tree resulting from Maximum likelihood analysis of ITS nrDNA sequences of a selection of
Distribution map of the new species,
Checklist of the three Iranian endemic
Species | Life form | Records | EOO (km2) | AOO (km2) | 10% max. dist. (km) | Redlist category |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hem. | 2 | - | 32 | 4 | CR B2ab(i,ii,iv) [VU D2] | |
Hem. | 4 | 11,540 | 1,936 | 22 | VU B1ab(i,ii,iv) | |
Hem. | 1 | <100 | <10 | - | CR B1+B2ab(iii) |
Main morphological characters distinguishing
Species | Habit | Calyx hairs | Peduncle | Rachis | Pod indument | Flowers |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lax caespitose | White | Shorter than leaves | rigid, thick (3) 4–6 cm | Sparsely hairy to glabrous | 2–3 | |
Dense to lax caespitose | Black and white | Shorter than leaves | rigid, thick 5–8 cm | Densely hairy, white | 2–6 | |
Lax caespitose | Black and white | Longer than leaves | rigid, thick 5–20 cm | Hairy, black and white | Many | |
Dense caespitose | White | Shorter than leaves | flexible, thin 2–2.5(3) cm | Hairy, white | 2–3 |
The authors wish to thank two anonymous reviewers who provided useful comments. Mr. D. Reich, from the WU herbarium, for sending photographs of specimens collected by O. Stapf, and Dr. Mirtadzadini for the photo of
Voucher information of the Astragalus taxa included in the phylogenetic analysis with their corresponding GenBank accession numbers. Newly generated sequences are marked with an asterisk