Centaurea sect. Microlophus (Wagenitz, 1975)

Ranjbar, Massoud, Askari, Ali & Mohammadi, Somayeh, 2021, Two new species of Centaurea sect. Microlophus (Asteraceae, Cardueae) from Iran, Phytotaxa 480 (2), pp. 125-138 : 134-138

Key to the closely related species of Centaurea sect. Microlophus

1. Plant covered with arachnoid indumentum; lower cauline leaves oblong to elliptic, entire; upper cauline leaves 1–4 cm long, decurrent for 2 to 10 mm; involucres narrowly ovoid, 5–8 mm wide................................................................................................2

– Plant covered with sparsely hirsute-articulate indumentum or subglabrous; lower cauline leaves pinnatipartite or pinnatilobate, dentate; upper cauline leaves 5–9 cm long, sessile; involucres ovoid, 17–22 mm wide ...................................................................3

2. Basal cauline leaves oblong to lyrate or pinnatilobate, 15.5–17 cm long, terminal segment triangular; median cauline leaves lanceolate or lanceolate-oblong, sessile; involucres narrowly ovoid; central florets up to 20 mm long .......................... C. koeieana

– Basal cauline leaves pinnatipartite, pinnatilobate or pinnatifid, 44–46 cm long, terminal segment lanceolate-linear; median cauline leaves pinnatipartite, pinnatilobate or pinnatifid, decurrent for 15–20 mm; involucres conical, central florets up to 14 mm long .... ................................................................................................................................................................................... C. kuhdashtensis

3. Plant indumentum sparsely hirsute-articulate or subglabrous; basal cauline leaves lyrate, 10–17 × 1.5–3 cm, dentate or lobate; upper cauline leaves sessile; involucres ovoid, 12–18 mm long; achene 5–6 mm long ...................................................... C. pabotii

– Plant indumentum densely hispid; basal cauline leaves pinnatipartite, pinnatilobate or pinnatifid, 23–26 × 6–10 cm, incised; upper cauline leaves decurrent for 2–3 mm; involucres subconical, 20–23 mm long; achene 2–3 mm long............................. C. dezfulica