Silene villosa Forssk., Fl. Aegypt-Arab.: 88. 1775. ( Forsskal and Niebuhr 1775)

Jafari, Farzaneh, Keshavarzi, Maryam & Rabeler, Richard K., 2022, Species delimitation and phylogenetic relationships of Silene villosa s. l. (Caryophyllaceae, sect. Silene s. l.) using nrDNA ITS and cpDNA rps 16, Plant Ecology and Evolution 155 (3), pp. 394-403 : 394

Silene villosa Forssk., Fl. Aegypt-Arab.: 88. 1775. ( Forsskal and Niebuhr 1775)

Fig. 3D-E

S. villosa var. stricte-refracta Hausskn. & Bornm., Mitth. Thüring. Bot. Vereins 6: 49. 1894. ( Bornmüller 1894) - Type: IRAN • Sinus Persicus australis, in apricis arenosis insulae Kischm; J. Bornmüller Iter persico-turcicum 1892-93 96; Jan. 1893; lectotype (designated here): JE [JE00013335], isolectotypes: B [B101156873, B101157369, B101157373, B101157374], E [E00987051], JE [JE00013336, JE00013337], PH [PH00024127], PI [PI042024]; probable isolectotype: KFTA [KFTA0001148].

Type.

EGYPT • Prope pyramides Gizenses; Herb. P. Forsskål 550; lectotype: C [C10003076] (designated by Melzheimer 1988); probable isolectotype: Herb. P. Forsskål 560, C [C10003075] .

Description.

Annual herb, glandular and eglandular villous to pubescent. Stem 14.5-32 cm long, ascending. Leaves linear to oblanceolate, 19-43.5 × 2-9.5 mm. Inflorescence irregular cymose, mostly monochasial, rarely dichasial; pedicels 4-19 mm long; bracts herbaceous, linear to oblanceolate. Calyx cylindric, 12.5-18 mm long, pendulous in fruit. Petals white to pinkish, exserted, bifid. Coronal scales oblong, apex entire, obtuse. Anthophore 7-8.5 mm long. Capsule 7-9 mm long. Seed reniform, concave.

General distribution.

Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia (Fig. 5 ).

Distribution in Iran.

South-eastern Iran including Hormozgan, Kerman, Sistan and Baluchestan.

Additional material examined.

ALGERIA • Bechar; 29°5'N, 2°38'W; 520 m; 1 Apr. 1980; Podlech 33649; MSB [MSB-113841] • Laghouat; 30°00'N, 2°32'E; 500 m; 26 Mar. 1981; Podlech 35342; MSB [MSB-113632] .

EGYPT • Sinai Peninsula, ca 50 km ESE of Ismailiya near the road to Gifgata , sandy flats; 30°34'N, 32°44'E; 170 m; 3 May 1991; Förther 4298; MSB [MSB-113639] • Cairo: between Kirdasa and the Giza Pyramids ; 10 Feb. 1926; Cäckholm s.n.; S .

IRAN • Hormozgan, 73 km after Kahir to Jak, near Tujak village ; 78 m; 7 Mar. 2013; Attar, Mirtadzadini & Rategar 45936; TUH • Kerman, SE Jiroft, E Anbarabad, NE Rudfarq village ; 23 Feb. 2007; Mirtadzadini 3853; MIR • Kerman, Jiroft toward Kahnuj, before Anbarabad crossroad; 709 m; 28 Mar. 2011; Mirtadzadini 3855; MIR • Sistan and Baluchestan, Konarak to Jask, 11 km before Zarabad, near Tujak village , on a sandy hill; 78 m; 6 Mar. 2014; Mirtadzadini, Attar & Rastgar 3854; MIR • Sistan and Baluchestan, Iranshahr to Nikshahr, 12 km after Espake crossroad; 990 m; 3 Mar. 2014; Mirtadzadini, Attar & Rastgar 3856; MIR .

MOROCCO • d’Ouarzazate; 30°38'N, 6°10'W; 10 Apr. 1990; Schuhwerk 90/903; M • d’Ouarzazate; 30°57'N, 6°50'W; 12 Apr. 1990; Podlech 49528; MSB [MSB-113635] .

PALESTINE • Negev , Revivim , sandy soil; 12 Apr. 1952; D’Angelis s.n.; M • Negev; 30°58'N, 34°22'E.; 200 m; 30 Mar. 1992; Tielbörger s.n.; M • Sinai, Rafa Bir El Meleha ( Bi’r al Malalihah) at the coast; 23 Mar. 1938; Cäckholm s.n.; S .

Additional material examined (digital).

ALGERIA • Aïn-Sefra (Sud de la prov. d’Oran); 7 May 1856; Cosson s.n.; JE [JE00015630], LY [LY0126056], MPU [MPU008778] , US [ US 128945 ] • El-Goléa, in arenosis; 16 Mar. 1899; Chevallier s.n.; LY [LY0126054] • El Goléa, in cultis, ad ripas rivulon; 21 Mar. 1904; Chevallier 88 ; US [ US 1157498] • [ Naâma], Aïn Sefra; 20 Apr. 1888; Bonnet & Maury s.n.; P [P05032549] • Sables et bords de l’Oued à Aïn Sefra, sud-ouest de la prov. d’Oran; 7 May 1856; Kralik in Bourgeau , Pl. D’Algerie 229; MPU [MPU008779, MPU008780, MPU008781], WAG [WAG.1562546] • El Abiod-Sidi-Cheikh, in arenis; May 1899; Chevallier 170bis ; US [ US 550356 ] • Sud-Oranais, environs d’Aïn-Sefra; 1100 m; 11 May 1938; Faure s.n.; P [P01194665] .

EGYPT • Km 24 Cairo-Suez road; 7 Apr. 1945; Davis 10284; E [E00987058] • Al Qāhirah, Sandhügel, 7 km südöstl. von Heluan; 19 Mar. 1885; Volkens s.n.; JE [JE00015632] • Bir Baadah el Messaid; 20 Mar. 1880; Barbey 148; LY [LY0686625] • [New Valley], Abydos; 26 Mar. 1881; Letourneux s.n.; P [P04914444] • Prope Kahiram, Gezisch; Apr. 1877; Ball 248 ; US [ US292295 ] .

MAURITANIA • Aguelt Oued Aouineght (Zemmour noir); 4 Mar. 1954; Sougy 324; P [P00799753] .

MOROCCO • Ouarzazate , 7 km NE Ouarzazate nahe der Straße nach Skoura (P 32), sandiges oued; 30°56 ’59.999” N, 6°49 ’59.988” W; 1140 m; 12 Apr. 1990; Podlech 49528; P [P05075130] .

SAUDI ARABIA • Near lip of the escarpment behind Police Post on the Taif-Jaddah road; 1920 m; 5 Feb. 1980; Collenette 1742; E [E01000686] • Red sand dunes, 12 km west of Zabirah Camp and 100 km north of Giba; 549 m; 24 Feb. 1985; Collenette 5072; E [E01000644].

TUNISIA • [Kebili], Bechilli ( Nefzaoua merid.); 19 Mar. 1886; Letourneux s.n.; P [P04914526] • [Kebili], El Foouara in arenosis; 19 Apr. 1887; Letourneux s.n.; P [P04914522, P04914523] • [Sidi Bouzid], El houwara; 19 Apr. 1887; Letourneux s.n.; P [P04914525] • [Tozeur], Gouifla Tunisie; 9 May 1884; Doumet-Adanson & Bonnet s.n.; P [P04914527] .

UNKNOWN • Herbier Mussat; 4 Oct. 1902; s.col. s.n.; LY [LY0126051].

Notes.

Although Bornmüller (1894) was specifically describing new plants from Iran based on specimens that were included in the Iter persico-turcicum 1892-93 exsiccata set that he distributed, no single specimen is cited in the protologue of S. villosa var. stricte-refracta . We believe #96 is original material of this taxon and have selected one of the three sheets of #96 at JE to serve as the lectotype. The sheet at KFTA has a handwritten label with the same collection information except for the exsiccata number.

In Flora Iranica ( Melzheimer 1988), five specimens were listed for S. villosa from Iran. The first author (FJ) examined three specimens (Pabot 382, Pabot 392, and Iranshahr & Terme 14943-E) (Fig. 4A, B ) and identified them as S. wendelboi . Melzheimer (1988) recognized Bornmüller 96 from Qeshm as S. villosa and we confirm the identification. However, we could not locate Kunkel 16731 from Qeshm. It is noteworthy that Rechinger 8787=8794 from Iraq, Basra, cited as the basis for the illustration of S. villosa in tab. 248 in Flora Iranica, should be S. arabica based on the characters shown in Table 1 ; Rechinger 8794 was cited under S. arabica in the Flora of Lowland Iraq ( Rechinger 1964). The specimen Iranshahr & Terme 33683-E was erroneously identified as S. arabica in Flora Iranica; it should be S. villosa .

The presence of S. villosa in Iraq has not been confirmed; we have not seen any specimens of S. villosa from Iraq. The description of S. villosa in Flora of Iraq ( Townsend et al. 2016) includes characteristics of S. wendelboi , while parts 4-7 in figure 46, reproduced from the Flora of Pakistan ( Ghazanfar and Nasir 1986), are similar to S. villosa. All specimens cited as S. villosa in Flora of Iraq ( Townsend et al. 2016) are S. wendelboi .

Our phylogenetic analysis shows that S. villosa forms a clade with S. ayachica and S. lynesii in both the ITS and rps16 tree.

Figures

Figure 3. Silene wendelboi Assadi (A-C) and Silene villosa Forssk. (D-E). A. Habit and habitat. B. Flowers. C. Seeds (53480 TARI). D. Flower. E. Seeds (45936 TUH). Photos A and B by Alexey Sergeev (https: // www. floraofqatar. com /); D by Ori Fragman-Sapir (https: // powo. science. kew. org /); C and E by Farzaneh Jafari.

Figure 4. A. Silene wendelboi Assadi, Iranshahr & Terme 14943 - E, IRAN. B. Silene wendelboi Assadi, Pabot 382, IRAN. Photos by Atiye Nejad Falatoury.

Figure 5. Distribution map of Silene villosa (red dots) and S. wendelboi (blue dots) based on specimens examined. The map was made with QGIS v. 3.22.9.