Centaurea aladaghensis Wagenitz (1960: 481)

Negaresh, Kazem & Rahiminejad, Mohammad Reza, 2018, A revision of Centaurea sect. Cynaroides (Asteraceae, Cardueae-Centaureinae), Phytotaxa 363 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

2. Centaurea aladaghensis Wagenitz (1960: 481) , descr. compl. ( Fig. 4 )

Achaenia oblonga vel lanceolata, 5–6 mm longa, 2.2–2.8 mm lata, pallide brunnea vel alba, laevia, glaberscentia, hila lateralia ca. 0.8 mm longa; pappus scaber, multiseriatus, pallide brunneus ad valde brunneus, duplex, 8–9 mm longus, internus multo brevior, 1.5–2 mm longus.

Type :— TURKEY. [ C5 Adana], Prov. Niğde: Cappadocien, auf dem Masmutli Dagh oberhalb Solakly, Siehe s.n. (holotype GB!, isotypes B!, GB!: two sheets) .

Biennial plants, with thick taproot, whole plant usually green or green-opaque, 40–50 cm tall; collar of fibrous petiolar remains present at stem base. Stem erect, branched above, 5–10 mm in diam. at base, cylindrical, with thick yellowish striations, densely foliated throughout, ± densely covered with long hirsute-articulate hairs, up to 3 mm long. Leaves rigid, papyraceous (on drying), undivided, with prominent and elevated veins on both sides, distinctly denticulate or repand-dentate, covered with hirsute-articulate hairs, denser along midrib and veins. Basal and lower cauline leaves with a long petiole, cordate or oblong-cordate, 20–30 × 10–13 cm, acute at apex. Median cauline leaves subsessile or with clasping and broadly decurrent, or with auricles at base, obovate to oblong, or broadly ovate-oblong, 10–14 × 7–10(–11) cm, acute at apex. Upper cauline leaves smaller, sessile, lanceolate, 8–10 × 1–4 cm, broadly decurrent or winged, acuminate at apex, usually surrounding the capitula. Capitula several, 5 to 10, arranged in a raceme, upper ones with 1.5–3.5 cm peduncles, lowest ones with up to 6 cm peduncles. Involucres ovoid, 25–30 × 18–25 mm. Phyllaries multiseriate, green in vivo, yellow-brownish in sicco, imbricate, coriaceous-scarious, loosely tomentose hairs. Appendages rigid, medium-sized, concealing a major part of phyllaries, not decurrent, elongate triangular, gradually tapering into spine, 4–5 mm wide at base (excluding cilia), straw-coloured, brownish or dark brown; cilia erect, white to brown, numerous, 9–12 on each side, (2–) 3–4 mm long; spines narrowly triangular, slightly longer than adjacent cilia. Outer phyllaries broadly triangular to ovate, 3–5 × 3–5 mm, appendages 10–15 × 6.5–8.5 mm (including cilia and spine). Median phyllaries lanceolate, 8–11 × 6–8 mm, appendages 17–19 × 8–11 mm (including cilia and spine). Inner phyllaries lanceolate, 13–15 × 5–6 mm, appendages distinctly ciliate (never lacerate), 12–13 × 7–8 mm (including cilia and spine). Flowers pink in vivo, purple in sicco; central florets hermaphroditic, 20–22 mm long, corolla ca. 10 mm long, 5-lobed; peripheral florets sterile, slightly shorter than central ones, numerous (20–25 in each capitulum) and conspicuous, finely dissected, not radiant, 4-lobed, limb lobes linear. Achenes oblong or lanceolate, 5–6 mm long, 2.2–2.8 mm wide, pale brown or whitish, sometimes silver-bronze, smooth, rounded at apex; insertion areole lateral, ca. 0.8 mm long. Pappus double, persistent, multiseriate, scabrous, pale brown to dark brown, 8–9 mm long, bristles of inner rows much shorter than others, 1.5–2 mm long.

Taxonomic and distribution remarks: — Centaurea aladaghensis is endemic to Niğde and Adana Provinces, in the southern part of Turkey ( Fig. 2 ). It is an Irano-Turanian element, and grows on dry stony slopes, margins of Pinus forest, in the steppe and mid-montane zones, at elevations of 1600–2000 m. For the first time, Wagenitz (1960) described C. aladaghensis based on three sheets deposited at the herbarium GB that were immature plants. After 55 years, we completed description of C. aladaghensis based on the specimen “ Savran 314 ” which is deposited in the herbarium of the Niğde University. In addition, we found another sheet that is an isotype deposited at the herbarium B, which was forgotten by Wagenitz (1960, 1975).

Centaurea aladaghensis is similar to C. sennikoviana in length of stem, length of involucres, color of flowers and length of pappus, but differs from this species by its stem branched above and densely foliated throughout (vs. almost simple, sparsely leafy throughout), basal and lower cauline leaves 20–30 × 10–13 cm, distinctly denticulate or repand-dentate (vs. 16–25 × 6–7 cm, usually entire, rarely remotely denticulate), median cauline leaves obovate to oblong, or broadly ovate-oblong, 7–10(–11) cm wide (vs. triangular-lanceolate or subpandurate, 3.5–5.5 cm wide), capitula 5–10-cephalous (vs. 2–4-cephalous), appendages rigid, medium-sized, concealing a major part of phyllaries, elongate triangular, straw-coloured, brownish or dark brown (vs. small, concealing part of phyllaries only, chartaceous or membranous, triangular, pale brown), median appendages 17–19 mm (vs. 7–10 mm) long, inner appendages distinctly ciliate (vs. lacerate or pectinate), achenes 5–6 mm (vs. 6–7 mm) long, and also pappus pale brown to dark brown (vs. whitish).

This species is also related to C. amanicola , especially because of upper cauline leaves broadly decurrent or winged, capitule with short peduncle, flowers pink and achenes 5–6 mm long (its pappus 8–9 mm long). However, C. aladaghensis differs from C. amanicola in its stem 40–50 cm (vs. 65–80 cm) tall, lower cauline leaves with a long petiole, cordate or oblong-cordate, 20–30 × 10–13 cm (vs. subsessile, narrowed toward base, oblong to broadly lanceolate, 18–20 × 7–9 cm), indumentum of median and upper cauline leaves loosely hirsute-articulate (vs. densely tomentose), appendages medium-sized, concealing a major part of phyllaries, not decurrent, elongate triangular, 4–5 mm wide at base (excluding cilia), straw-coloured, brownish or dark brown (vs. large, totally concealing phyllaries, narrowly decurrent, broadly triangular to orbicular, 6–8(–9) mm wide at base (excluding cilia), dark brown to blackish, outer ones pale brown), median appenadages 17–19 × 8–11 mm (vs. 10–12(–14) × 13–17 mm), and also cilia 9–12 on each side, (2–) 3–4 mm long (vs. 12–16(–20) on each side, 3–6 mm long). In addition, C. aladaghensis grows at elevations higher than those of C. amanicola .

Chromosome numbers: —Romaschenko et al. (2004) and Askoy et al. (2016) reported the same chromosome number 2 n = 2 x =18 for Centaurea aladaghensis .

Selected specimens examined:— TURKEY. [5 Adana]: Pozantı, Dağdibi Köyü-Mazmılı Yayla yolu Yağardıç Sırtı mevki, 1600 m, 6 July 1997, Savran 314 (NİĞDE ÜNİVERSİTY HERBARIUM!) .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distribution of Centaurea alfonsoi (circles) and C. aladaghensis (squares).

FIGURE 4. Centaurea aladaghensis Wagenitz (Siehe s.n., GB, B). A–D. median phyllaries. E. habit. Scale A–D = 2 cm.