Senecio tauricola Matthews

Calvo, Joel, Álvarez, Inés & Aedo, Carlos, 2015, Systematics of Senecio section Crociseris (Compositae, Senecioneae), Phytotaxa 211 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

18. Senecio tauricola Matthews in Davis (1974: 258) [ “tauricolus ”]. TYPE: Turkey, Konya, Ermenek-Karaman, 13 km nördlich ob Ermenek , [36º46'N 32º52'E], 7 July 1964, A. Huber-Morath 17303 (holotype, G-96258 image!).

Perennial herb. Rhizome ca. 4 cm long, 0.9–1.2 cm in diam., ± horizontal, with swelled fastigiate roots. Stem 32–43 cm, erect, leaved, corrugated, solid, not ramificated, weakly arachnoid to floccose, base without remnants of old leaves or tufts of hairs. Basal leaves 5.5–13 cm long, 1.7–3.8 cm wide, persistent, rarely withering early, elliptic to lanceolate (ratio basal leaf width / basal leaf length = 0.21–0.31), acute to obtuse, attenuate to cuneate, with a petiole 7.5–12 cm long, entire to widely-spaced denticles, sparsely floccose, rarely glabrescent, concolorous. Cauline leaves 7–10; middle cauline leaves 5.9–11.4 cm long, 1.6–3.1 cm wide, alternate, lanceolate to oblanceolate (ratio middle leaf width / middle leaf length = 0.20–0.28), acute to obtuse, attenuated into a petiole up to 5.4 cm long, entire to slightly dentate (teeth ca. 0.7 mm deep), sparsely floccose to weakly arachnoid, tertiary venation inconspicuous; upper cauline leaves 0.9–5.7 cm long, 0.1–2.4 cm wide, narrowly lanceolate to oblong (ratio upper leaf width / upper leaf length = 0.12–0.42), acute, sessile, entire to subentire, floccose. Synflorescence 5.5–16.5 cm long, pseudocorymbose, with linear-oblong bracts. Capitula (1–)2–5(–8), 31.7–36.4 mm in diam.; involucre 12.2–18.5 mm in diam., 9–11 mm long, cupuliform; involucral bracts (17–)20–22(–22), 6.6–9.8 mm long, 1–1.6 mm wide, with scarious margin 0.32–1.5 mm wide, ensiform, attenuate, 0–2-keeled, apex usually with a black spot, floccose to lanate; supplementary bracts (6–)9–10(–16), 3.8–7.8 mm long, 0.5–2 mm wide, subulate, without scarious margin, a half to three quarters as long as involucral bracts, floccose to lanate, not imbricated. Ligulate florets ca. 13, ca. 19 mm long, yellow; tubular florets 8–10.2 mm long, 1–1.3 mm in diam., yellow. Achenes 2–4 mm long (Matthews in Davis, 1974), with ca. 10 ribs, with intercostal trichomes ca. 0.1 mm long, denser towards the apex; pappus ca. 9.7 mm long, whitish. Chromosome number: 2 n =40 ( Altınordu et al. 2014: 2208). Figure 24 .

Distribution and habitat: — Turkey, endemic of southern-central Anatolia; rocky slopes, steppes, forest of Quercus , Juniperus ; on calcareous soils; 1200–2200 m elevation ( Figure 25 ).

Phenology: — Flowering from June to July.

Etymology: — The epithet tauricola refers to the Taurus Mountains, southern-central Anatolia.

Discussion: — The lanate-floccose involucre and the caducous arachnoid indumentum of the leaves are useful characters to distinguish S. tauricola from the other Crociseris members. It is variable regarding the capitula number and the density of leaf indumentum.

This species has often been confused with S. castagneanus , with which it partially overlaps its area of distribution, but the lanate-floccose indumentum of the involucre in S. tauricola allows us to separate each other easily. Another character that helps to discriminate them is the number of supplementary bracts [(6–)9–10(–16) in S. tauricola vs. (10–)12–15(–18) in S. castagneanus ]. The distribution range of S. tauricola also overlaps with S. inops , but the number of involucral bracts is a distinctive character between them (17–22 in S. tauricola vs. 13–14 in S. inops ). Although the ranges are not strictly overlapping, S. tauricola has also been mistaken with S. cilicius . They basically differ in the leaf indumentum (arachnoid, caducous in S. tauricola vs. ± lanate, persistent in S. cilicius ), and in the number of involucral bracts (17–22 in S. tauricola vs. 10–16 in S. cilicius ). Another morphologically close species is S. eubaeus (see comments under it).

SYSTEMATICS OF SENECIO SECTION CROCISERIS

Phytotaxa 211 (1) © 2015 Magnolia Press • 65 Selected specimens examined. TURKEY. Adana: Karanfil [dagi], 37º36’N, 35º2’E, 15 July 1966, F. A . Bisby 92 ( E); Ala-dag , 37º43’N, 35º13’E, 23 Sep 1938, H . Ellenberg 161 ( B); Seyhan, Karaisali, Asmancik Yaylâ NW ob Pozanti , 37º31’N, 34º58’E, 28 June 1959, A . Huber-Morath 15841 ( G). Karaman: Sara près Ermenek , 36º37’N, 32º54’E, July 1872, L . Péronin s.n. ( P); bei Korasch im Lykaonischen Taurus , 37º6’N, 33º49’E, June 1912, W . Siehe 553 ( BM, LE, Z). Konya: Bozkir-Kücüksu menkii, 37º9’N, 32º9’E, 13 June 1968, R . Çetik 289 ( G); Kleinasien, Isaurien, Hadim-Taschkent , beim Dorf Kongul , 36º57’N, 32º29’E, 16 June 1948, A . Huber-Morath 8544 ( G). Mersin: Anamur, Gülnar-Ermenek, 61 km nach Gülnar , 36º31’N, 32º43’E, 11 June 1950, A . Huber-Morath 15839 ( G). Niğde: Ala dağ; by Arpalik Cave , 37º52’N, 35º8’E, 28 June 1963, E . Parry 184 ( E) .

Figures

FIGURE 24. A–I. Senecio eubaeus Boissier & Heldreich—a. Habit (drawn from Leonis 4344, E).—b. Habit (drawn from Fokkinga s.n. 24 June 1969, L).—c. Capitulum (drawn from Leonis 4344, E).—d. Involucral bract (drawn from Leonis 4344, E).—e. Supplementary bract (drawn from Leonis 4344, E).—f. Ligulate floret (drawn from Leonis 4344, E).—g. Tubular floret (drawn from Leonis 4344, E).—h. Achene (drawn from Heldreich 2072, L).—i. Indumentum of achene (drawn from Heldreich 2072, L). J–K. Senecio tauricola Matthews (drawn from Bisby 92, E).—j. Synflorescence.—k. Involucral bract.—l. Supplementary bract.

FIGURE 25. Distribution map for Senecio tauricola Matthews (○), S. cilicius Boissier (●), and S. inops Boissier & Balansa (▲).