Negaresh, Ranjbar & Negaresh, 2013

Ranjbar, Massoud & Negaresh, Kazem, 2013, A revision of Centaurea sect. Phaeopappus (Asteraceae, Cardueae), Phytotaxa 123 (1), pp. 1-40 : 20-23

9. Centaurea indistincta (Wagenitz) Ranjbar & Negaresh , comb. & stat. nov. Fig. 10 .

Basionym: Centaurea aucheri subsp. indistincta Wagenitz (1980: 361) . Type : W IRAN. Prov. Lorestan, Oshtorankuh, near Saravand , 2000–2200 m, 16 June 1974, Rechinger 48045 (holotype WU!, isotype GOET!, photo BASU!) .

Perennial plants, usually completely green, 24–32 cm tall; collum covered with abundant brown fibrous remains of petioles of previous year. Stem erect, branched at the base or near base, sometimes branched in middle to upper parts, with branches unequal in length, sometimes divaricated, thinly white striate, cylindrical, ca. 3.5 mm in diam. at the base, densely covered with floccose-tomentose and sessile glandular hairs. Leaves densely covered with floccose-tomentose and sessile glandular-hairs. Basal leaves distinctly large, 10–28 cm long, pinnatipartite to pinnatisect, segments in 6–10 pairs, lanceolate or elliptic or lanceolateelliptic, sometimes undivided, apparently with a long petiole (up to 9 cm long), rounded or acute at apex, margins entire or dentate. Lower cauline leaves petiolate, 11–19 cm long, undivided, oblong or lanceolate, subacute or acute at apex, rarely divided, margins entire or sometimes dentate. Median and upper cauline leaves undivided, lanceolate or oblong or rhombic-lanceolate, 3–8 × 1–2.5 mm, sometimes narrowly decurrent, hemiamplexicaul, cuspidate or acuminate at apex, uppermost shorter than capitula and sometimes falcate-curvate. Capitules sessile or shortly (to 20 mm) pedunculate, solitary at end of branches; involucres oblong-ovoid, 25–28 × 20–25 mm. Phyllaries multiseriate, imbricate, green-yellowish, coriaceous, smooth and glabrous. Outer phyllaries ovate, 2.5–4 × 2–4 mm; appendages 5–6 × 5–6 mm (cilia and spine included). Median phyllaries ovate or ovate-oblong, 6–11 × 5–8 mm; appendages 6–8 × 8–9 mm (cilia and spine included). Inner phyllaries oblong or oblong-linear, 13–19 × 5–7 mm; appendages 4–6 × 5–7 mm (cilia and spine included). Appendages only concealing basal part of phyllaries, triangular, membranous, brown in central part, sometimes shortly decurrent on crenate margins, innermost lacerate; cilia whitish, narrowly triangular, numerous, 5–7 on each side, 2–4 mm long, indistinct; spine narrowly triangular, brownish or whitish, 1.5–4 mm long, ± equal to the nearest cilia. Flowers yellow; central florets hermaphrodite, ca. 33 mm long, corolla ca. 13 mm long, 5-lobed, lobes acute and ± equal, ca. 5 mm long, anther tube pink; peripheral florets sterile, finely dissected, not radiant, 4-lobed, limb lobes linear. Achenes oblong or oblong-arcuate, 7–8 mm long, ca. 2.3 mm wide, brown, glabrous, compressed; hilum lateral, ca. 0.4 mm long, glabrous. Pappus multiseriate, persistent, scabrous, brownish or purplish, 13–16 mm long.

Taxonomic and distributional remarks: — Centaurea indistincta is endemic to Kurdestan, Lorestan, Tehran, Qazvin, Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari and Fars Provinces in W, N and SE Iran ( Fig. 2 ). It seems that its previous assignment as a subspecies to C. aucheri may be incorrect, because there are many differences between C. indistincta and C. aucheri (see Table 5).

In addition, C. indistincta shares some characters such as size of involucres and color of flowers with C. phaeopappa , but differs from the latter in having its cauline leaves undivided or with few divisions (vs. almost pinnatisect or pinnatipartite), median and upper cauline leaves sometimes narrowly decurrent, hemiamplexicaul (vs. not decurrent, not amplexicaul), appendages only concealing basal part of phyllaries, brown in central part (vs. appendages concealing a major part of phyllaries, brown or dark brown in central part or completely brown), outer appendages including cilia and spine 5–6 × 5–6 mm (vs. 7–13 × 6–13 mm), median appendages including cilia and spine 6–8 × 8–9 mm (vs. 12–20 × 10–15 mm), inner appendages including cilia and spine 4–6 × 5–7 mm (vs. 6–9 × 6–10 mm), spine 1.5–4 mm (vs. 4–11 mm) long, and also cilia 5–7 on each side, indistinct (vs. 5–20 on each side, distinct).

Chromosome numbers: —Unknown.

Selected specimens examined:— IRAN. Prov. Kurdestan: 25 km to Sanandaj, Salavat Abad neck, 2129 m, 21 July 2009, Ranjbar et al. 18492 ( BASU!) ; 25 km from Sanandaj toward Kamyaran , 1200 m, 1 June 2005, Ranjbar et al. 12356 ( BASU!) ; Ariz 20 km W Sanandaj, 2200 m, Rechinger 42843 ( W!) ; near Salavat Abad E Sanandaj, 2300 m, Rechinger 48487 ( W!) . Prov. Lorestan: Dow Rud, Saravand bifurcate, 2127 m, 18 July 2011, Ranjbar & Negaresh 29116 ( BASU!) ; Oshtoran Kuh, near Saravand 20 km SE Dow Rud, 2000– 2200 m, Rechinger 48045 ( W!) ; Khali Kuh 50–60 km S Aligudarz, 2300–2800 m, Rechinger 47921 ( W!) . Prov. Qazvin: Halkedar near Marad Abad , 1300 m, Rechinger 1050 ( W!) ; Kuh Dashteh near Karaj, 2400– 2500 m, Rechinger 57300 ( W!) . Prov. Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari: 12 km Borujen toward Sefid Dasht, 2300– 2700 m, Rechinger 47104 ( W!) . Prov. Hamedan: Morad Baek, Ranjbar 397 ( BASU!) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distribution of Centaurea albonitens (1), C. spectabilis (2), C. aucheri (3), C. phaeopappa (4), C. assadii (5), C. indistincta (6), C. farsistanica (7), C. phaeopappa subsp. jiroftensis (8), and C. handelii (9) in Iran.

FIGURE 10. Centaurea indistincta (Wagenitz) Ranjbar & Negaresh (A and C: Rechinger 48045, WU). A and C. habit. B. close up of capitule. Scale A and C = 2 cm.