Search

The interspecific plant interactions along grazing and aridity stress gradients represent a major research issue in plant ecology. However, the combined effects of these two factors on plant–plant interactions have been poorly studied in the northeast of Iran. To fill this knowledge gap, 144 plots were established in 12 study sites with different grazing intensities (high vs. low) and climatic characteristics (arid vs. semiarid) in northeastern Iran. A dominant shrub, Artemisia kopetdaghensis, was selected as the model species. Further, we studied changes in plant life strategies along the combined grazing and aridity stress gradients. In this study, we used relative interaction indices calculated for species richness, Shannon diversity, and species cover to determine plant–plant interactions using linear mixed‐effect models (LMM). The indicator species analysis was used to identify the indicator species for the undercanopy of shrub and for the adjacent open areas. The combined effects of grazing and aridity affected the plant–plant interactions and plant life strategies (CSR) of indicator species. A. kopetdaghensis showed the highest facilitation effect under high stress conditions (high grazing, high aridity), which turned into competition under the low stress conditions (low grazing, low aridity). In the arid region, the canopy of the shrub protected ruderals, annual forbs, and grasses in both high and low grazing intensities. In the semiarid region and high grazing intensity (low aridity/high grazing), the shrubs protected mostly perennial forbs with C‐strategy. Our findings highlight the importance of context‐dependent shrub management to restore the vegetation damaged by the intensive grazing., The manuscript is based on a field study, aiming to compare the canopy effects of an unpalatable dominant shrub (Artemisia kopetdaghensis) in the conditions of biotic stress, represented by intensive grazing and abiotic stress, represented by severe aridity. Our results bring new evidence to the current debate on the relative importance and characteristics of plant–plant interactions along the gradients of environmental stress. We detected the facilitative effects of the dominant shrub on species diversity in the presence of both grazing and aridity. However, the facilitative effects turned into competition in the conditions of less severe aridity in the semiarid region.

In grazing conditions, unpalatable species may induce either associational defense or neighbor contrast susceptibility in neighboring communities. Using surveys from eight grasslands, we tested whether various unpalatable species have the same impacts on neighboring communities in response to grazing. The studied unpalatable species were: Phlomis cancellata (an unpalatable nonpoisonous plant), Euphorbia boissieriana, E.microsciadia (poisonous plants), and Seseli transcaucasicum (a highly poisonous plant). Our results showed that, in the ungrazed grasslands, communities containing P. cancellata had lower biodiversity than communities without it. In the moderately- and heavily grazed grasslands, P. cancellata induced associational defense in the neighboring communities. In heavily grazed grasslands, both Euphorbia species promoted neighbor contrast susceptibility in the neighboring communities. Similarly, S. transcaucasicum in a heavily grazed grassland, induced neighbor contrast susceptibility. Different responses of plant community vulnerability among the studied unpalatable plants might be due to herbivore different foraging decisions. Accordingly, grazers selectively choose from other patches when facing P. cancellata and other plant individuals when there is a poisonous plant in a patch. Our results suggested that grazing intensity may not substantially affect the foraging decisions of sheep and goats in response to unpalatable species. We recommend monitoring the abundance of poisonous species to maintain the sustainable use of grasslands.

Khorassan-Kopet Dagh (KK) floristic province is an ecoregion that has rarely been studied. A total number of 2576 (356 endemic) vascular plants have been recorded from this area. Most of the endemic species of KK are rare and range-restricted. To assess the vulnerability of plant species under a rapidly changing climate, we can use species distribution modelling (SDM) to predict their potential present and future distribution. We used SDM to evaluate range size changes for three (critically) endangered endemic species to KK, namely Nepeta binaloudensis, Phlomoides binaludensis, and Euphorbia ferdowsiana. These plants represent KK endemic species that grow in the different elevation ranges of KK mountains. Using the HadGEM2-ES general circulation model and two Representative Concentration Pathways Scenarios (RCP), including RCP 2.6 (most optimistic) and RCP 8.5 (most pessimistic), we predicted the potential present and future (i.e., 2050 and 2070) distribution for each species. The ensemble model of nine different methods was used for this prediction. Our results showed that, except for P. binaludensis that will face range contraction, the other species would benefit from potential range expansion in the future. Euphorbia ferdowsiana will remain limited to a narrow range of KK. However, the other two plants will have suitable habitats in various mountains of KK. To conserve flora of KK, we urge using management efforts with a focus on providing elevational migration routes at the local scales in KK mountains. Additionally, assisted migration among different mountains of this region will be beneficial to conserve its endemic plants. For E. ferdowsiana genetic diversity storage employing seed banks and botanical garden preservation should be considered.

Phelipanche pouyanii is described here as a new species from South Khorassan Province, East of Iran. Its diagnostic morphological features are the calyx teeth being far longer than the calyx tube and staminal filaments being glabrous. These characters clearly differentiated the new species from its closely related taxa, i.e., P. mutelii, P. angustelaciniata and P. nana. Results obtained from the pollen and seed micromorphological characters showed no significant taxonomic value in the delimitation of the new species from its closely related species. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences, however, showed sufficient differences to delineate the new species from its closely related species.

Type materials of Astragalus moussavii (Fabaceae) are designated as a lectotype and four isolectotypes. An epitype for the species is designated here too. An emended description of A. moussavii is provided with illustrations and information on several morphological characters not indicated in the protologue, including the size and shape of the terminal leaflet, petals characteristics, fruit and seed features. Based on field observations, a brief description of the habitat and data on ecology and biogeography of the species are provided and its conservation status is evaluated.

Understanding the responses of vegetation characteristics and soil properties to grazing in different precipitation regimes is useful for the management of rangelands, especially in the arid regions. In northeastern Iran, we studied the responses of vegetation to livestock grazing in three regions with different climates: arid, semiarid, and subhumid. In each region, we selected 6–7 pairwise sampling areas of high versus low grazing intensity and six traits of the present species were recorded on 1 m2 plots—five grazed and five ungrazed in each area. The overall fertility was compared using the dissimilarity analysis, and linear mixed‐effect models were used to compare the individual fertility parameters, functional diversity indices, and species traits between the plots with high and low grazing intensity and between the climatic regions. Both climate and grazing, as well as their interaction, affected fertility parameters, functional diversity indices, and the representation of species traits. Grazing reduced functional evenness, height of the community, the representation of annuals, but increased the community leaf area. In the subhumid region, grazing also reduced functional richness. Further, grazing decreased the share of annual species in the semiarid region and seed mass in the arid region. Larger leaf area and seed mass, smaller height and lower share of annuals were associated with intensive grazing. Species with large LA and seed mass, lower height and perennials can be therefore presumed to tolerate trampling and benefit from high nutrient levels, associated with intensive grazing. By providing a detailed view on the impacts of overgrazing, this study highlights the importance of protection from grazing as an effective management tool for maintaining the pastoral ecosystems. In general, the composition of plant traits across the pastures of northeastern Iran was more affected by intensive grazing than by the differences in climate.

Aridity and intensive grazing have been confirmed to affect the facilitative effects of dryland shrubs. However, their combined effects on plant-plant interactions have rarely been tested. To test how these two factors affect relations between plants, we analyzed 144 plots (under shrub canopy vs. open areas) at 12 sampling areas established in the conditions of two grazing regimes (high grazing vs. low grazing intensity) and two different climatic regions (arid vs. semi-arid) in northeastern Iran. A dominant shrub, Artemisia kopetdaghensis, was selected as the model species. Further, we studied changes in plant life strategies along the combined grazing and aridity stress gradients. We used relative interaction indices to test the outcomes of plant-plant interactions, calculated for species richness, Shannon diversity and species abundances. Then we compared them using linear mixed-effect models (LMM). The indicator species analysis was used to identify species typical for the under-canopy of shrub and for the adjacent open areas. The combination of stress factors affected the type and intensity of plant-plant interactions and plant life strategies (CSR) of the indicator species. Artemisia kopetdaghensis showed the highest facilitation effect under the most intensive stress conditions (high aridity/high grazing), which turned into competition under the low stress conditions (low aridity/low grazing). In the arid region, the canopy of shrub protected ruderal annual forbs and grasses with SR and R-strategy, respectively, in both high (high aridity/high grazing) and low grazing intensity (high aridity/low grazing). In the semi-arid region and high grazing intensity (low aridity/high grazing), the shrubs protected perennial forbs with C-strategy. Our FINDINGS highlight the importance of context-dependent shrub management in the restoration of vegetation damaged by intensive grazing.

© 2021 The Authors., Aims: Understanding fine-grain diversity patterns across large spatial extents is fundamental for macroecological research and biodiversity conservation. Using the GrassPlot database, we provide benchmarks of fine-grain richness values of Palaearctic open habitats for vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens and complete vegetation (i.e., the sum of the former three groups). Location: Palaearctic biogeographic realm. Methods: We used 126,524 plots of eight standard grain sizes from the GrassPlot database: 0.0001, 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 m and calculated the mean richness and standard deviations, as well as maximum, minimum, median, and first and third quartiles for each combination of grain size, taxonomic group, biome, region, vegetation type and phytosociological class. Results: Patterns of plant diversity in vegetation types and biomes differ across grain sizes and taxonomic groups. Overall, secondary (mostly semi-natural) grasslands and natural grasslands are the richest vegetation type. The open-access file ”GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks” and the web tool “GrassPlot Diversity Explorer” are now available online (https://edgg.org/databases/GrasslandDiversityExplorer) and provide more insights into species richness patterns in the Palaearctic open habitats. Conclusions: The GrassPlot Diversity Benchmarks provide high-quality data on species richness in open habitat types across the Palaearctic. These benchmark data can be used in vegetation ecology, macroecology, biodiversity conservation and data quality checking. While the amount of data in the underlying GrassPlot database and their spatial coverage are smaller than in other extensive vegetation-plot databases, species recordings in GrassPlot are on average more complete, making it a valuable complementary data source in macroecology., GrassPlot development has been supported by the Bavarian Research Alliance (BayIntAn_UBT_2017_58), the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS); IB, CorM, JAC, IGM, DGM, MHe, DL and MTo were supported by the Basque Government (IT936‐16); CorM, IAx, MCh, JDa, PD, MHá, ZL, ZPr, EŠ and LT were supported by the Czech Science Foundation (19‐28491X); TR was supported by the Estonian Research Council (PUT1173); RJP was funded by the Strategic Research Programme of the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division”; SBa was supported by the GINOP‐2.3.2‐15‐2016‐00019 project; GFi was partially supported by the MIUR initiative “Department of excellence” (Law 232/2016)"; BJA was funded by the Spanish Research Agency (grant AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033); AK, VB, IM, DS, IV and DV were supported by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine (2020.01/0140); MP and AH were supported by the Estonian Research Council (PRG874, PRG609), and the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence EcolChange); Data collection of HCP was funded by FORMAS (Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Science and Spatial Planning) and The Swedish Institute; JR was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (grant No. 20‐09895S) and the long‐term developmental project of the Czech Academy of Sciences (RVO 67985939); ATRA was funded by the Grant of Excellence Departments, MIUR‐Italy (ARTICOLO 1, COMMI 314 – 337 LEGGE 232/2016); JMA was supported by Carl Tryggers stiftelse för vetenskaplig forskning and Qatar Petroleum; AAli was supported by the Jiangsu Science and Technology Special Project (Grant No. BX2019084), and Metasequoia Faculty Research Startup Funding at Nanjing Forestry University (Grant No. 163010230), and he is currently supported by Hebei University through Faculty Research Startup Funding Program; ZB was supported by the NKFI K 124796 grant; The GLORIA‐ Aragón project of JLBA was funded by the Dirección General de Cambio Climático del Gobierno de Aragón (Spain); MCs and LDem were supported by DG Environment through the European Forum on Nature Conservation and Pastoralism and Barbara Knowles Fund, in collaboration with Pogány‐havas Association, Romania; JDa was partially supported by long‐term research development project no. RVO 67985939 of the Czech Academy of Sciences; BD and OV were supported by the NKFI KH 126476, NKFI KH 130338, NKFI FK 124404 and NKFI FK 135329 grants; BD, OV and AKe were supported by the Bolyai János Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; BE was funded by the Environmental Department of the Tyrolean Federal State Government, the MAB Programme of the Austrian Academy of Science, the Mountain Agriculture Research Unit and the Alpine Research Centre Obergurgl of Innsbruck University. The GLORIA projects of BE were funded by the EU project no. EVK2‐CT‐2000‐00056, the Earth System Sciences Program of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (project MEDIALPS), the Amt für Naturparke, Autonome Provinz Bozen‐Südtirol, the Südtiroler Wissenschaftsfonds and the Tiroler Wissenschaftsfonds; RGG was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Research to sample GLORIA sites in central Spain (CGL 2008‐00901/BOS) and present works by the Autonomous Region of Madrid (REMEDINAL TE‐CM, S2018/EMT‐4338); MJ was supporteLatviaed by Latvia Grant No. 194051; NP and SŠ were partly supported by the Slovenian Research Agency, core fundings P1‐0403 and J7‐1822.

Endemic species are believed to converge on narrow ranges of traits, with rarity reflecting adaptation to specific environmental regimes. We hypothesized that endemism is characterized by limited trait variability and environmental tolerances in two Dianthus species (Dianthus pseudocrinitus and Dianthus polylepis) endemic to the montane steppes of northeastern Iran. We measured leaf functional traits and calculated Grime’s competitor/stress-tolerator/ruderal (CSR) adaptive strategies for these and co-occurring species in seventy-five 25-m2 quadrats at 15 sites, also measuring a range of edaphic, climatic, and topographic parameters. While plant communities converged on the stress-tolerator strategy, D. pseudocrinitus exhibited functional divergence from S- to R-selected (C:S:R = 12.0:7.2:80.8% to 6.8:82.3:10.9%). Canonical correspondence analysis, in concert with Pearson’s correlation coefficients, suggested the strongest associations with elevation, annual temperature, precipitation seasonality, and soil fertility. Indeed, variance (s2) in R- and S-values for D. pseudocrinitus at two sites was exceptionally high, refuting the hypothesis of rarity via specialization. Rarity, in this case, is probably related to recent speciation by polyploidy (neoendemism) and dispersal limitation. Dianthus polylepis, in contrast, converged towards stress-tolerance. ‘Endemism’ is not synonymous with ‘incapable’, and polyploid neoendemics promise to be particularly responsive to conservation.

Plantago lagocephala is recorded as a new species for the flora of Iran from Razavi Khorassan Province. It is compared with the closely related species including P. lachnantha, P. ciliata and P. psammophila. Moreover, the diagnostic morphological characters and a distribution map are provided. The conservation status of the new record is evaluated based on the IUCN red list categories and criteria.

The Khorassan-Kopet Dagh Mountains are mainly east-west oriented ranges in the northeastern Iran. The climate of the area is continental and distinctly drier than the nearby mountain ranges. A total of 2576 species or infraspecific taxa belonging to 702 genera and 112 families are recorded from these mountains. It is known as a separate floristic province and is a transitional zone between the different phytogeographical units of the Irano-Turanian region. Near to 65% of the species are Irano-Turanian elements, and the level of endemism is about 14%. In spite of the uniform and dry climate of the Khorassan-Kopet Dagh, the heterogeneous topography supported the diverse vegetation types in the region. The major vegetation types of these mountains are Hyrcanian montane forests, Juniper woodlands, Pistacia woodlands, mesophilic shrublands, montane steppe shrublands, subalpine thorn-cushion communities, Stipa-Artemisia steppes, chasmophytic vegetation, edaphic vegetation, halophytic vegetation, psammophyte vegetation, wetlands, and ruderal vegetation. In recent decades, extensive urbanization and industrialization caused dramatic degradation in the natural ecosystems and the biodiversity of the Khorassan-Kopet Dagh. Almost all populations of endemic taxa outside the protected areas are severely threatened and need to be protected.

To evaluate nutlets characteristics for systematic relationships, a comprehensive morphological and micro‐morphological study of the nutlets of 16 Iranian taxa of Nepeta (Lamiaceae) was conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Differences in surface ornamentation, size, shape and color were observed between the species. The studied taxa were categorized in two basic types based on surface ornamentation: non‐sculptured (smooth‐type) and sculptured nutlets. The non‐sculptured nutlets type could be further divided into four sub‐types, including smooth, granulate, undulate‐cellular and reticulate. In the sculptured nutlets, three subtypes of tuberculate, tuberculate‐cellular and verrucate were recognized. The shape of nutlets were described as oblong, ovoid‐oblong, oblong‐linear, to elliptic‐oblong and their size range are 1.2–2.0 mm in length and 0.5–2.0 mm in width. Based on micrographs, the areole form and location were defined as bi‐lobed, straight, basal, sub‐basal or lateral. Nutlet micromorphological characteristics such as surface ornamentation can be useful for classification and identification of e.g. medicinal species of Nepeta in Iran.

In this study genetic diversity and interspecific relationships of 11 Allium L. species from Khorassan province of Iran including 32 accessions were investigated by inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Nine ISSR primers produced a total of 80 polymorphic markers and revealed high polymorphism among the studied species. The average gene diversity, effective number of alleles and Shannon’s information index were 0.2, 1.28 and 0.3, respectively. Allium kuhsorkhense exhibited the greatest level of variation (H e : 0.18), whereas A. stipitatum demonstrated the lowest level of variability (H e : 0.05). UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic mean) analysis showed that Allium accessions have a similarity range of 0.60 to 0.95. Allium scapriscapum composed the most distant group in the dendrogram. The clustered groups of Allium species clearly reflect the recent taxonomic concept of the genus at the subgenus and section levels. The present study showed that the ISSR technique is an effective molecular approach for analyzing genetic diversity and relationship in Allium species. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 22 (2): 67-75, 2015 (December)

Dianthus polylepis complex consists of two already known endemic species, Dianthus polylepis and D. binaludensis, in Khorassan-Kopetdagh floristic province. The taxonomic position of these species has long been debated. The aim of the present study is to shed light on the evolutionary relationships of the members of the complex using morphological and molecular data. In morphological study, firstly, 56 vegetative and floral characters were measured on 33 specimens of the both species. Multivariate analyses were performed on 25 (out of 56) significantly discriminating morphological traits. In molecular study, we sequenced alleles obtained from a region between 2nd and 6th exons of the gene coding for the enzyme dihydroflavonol 4-reductase copy1 (DFR1). Morphological results show that most of a priori identified accessions were not grouped in a posteriori classification. It is difficult to discriminate D. polylepis from D. binaludensis in morphological continuum among the accessions. Results obtained from the molecular data indicated no monophyly for the members of the D. polylepis complex. Consistency between the morphological and molecular results shows that D. polylepis and D. binaludensis were not morphologically and molecularly well differentiated. Therefore, we propose a new combination as D. polylepis subsp. binaludensis.

Molecular characterization of Tulipa L. species can elucidate the relationships among the species and provide more information about the taxonomy of this valuable genus. In this study, the genetic relationship among 39 Tulipa accessions from Khorassan and Yazd Provinces, located in east and northeast Iran, were analyzed using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers. Ten selected ISSR primers from 20 screened primers generated a total of 97 polymorphic DNA bands. Unweighted pair-group method of cluster analysis based on Dice similarity values separated the accessions into nine groups. Seven species were recognized within these groups, and T. micheliana Hoog was the most frequently encountered species. The subgroups formed within both T. micheliana and T. lehmanniana Merckl. revealed a low level of diversity within these species. T. biebersteiniana Schultes & Schultes fil. and T. biflora Pallas accessions made a separate clusters. The grouping of accessions was generally consistent with principal coordinate analysis (PCA) and clearly showed the position of species in the subgenera and sections of Tulipa. These results clearly showed the usefulness of DNA fingerprinting for identification of Tulipa accessions, and it is imperative to collect and characterize more genetic variability from the other distribution areas of this genus.

Four species of the genus Berberis L. have been reported from different regions, including Khorassan provinces. In this article, a revision of this genus in Khorassan provinces is presented. For better validation of the results, morphological, palynological, chromosomal and molecular studies were conducted on specimens collected from Khorassan provinces and preserved in FUMH and TARI herbaria. Morphological study resulted in recognition of three species of Berberis, from which two species are new records for Khorassan. Four unknown new taxa with new morphological characters were also identified, but left for further analysis because of the high percentage of polyploidy and hybridization in this genus. In order to analyze morphological data, 35 OTUs were provided and scored using the distance method and PCoA. The shape and size of pollen grains were nearly equal in the examined taxa, and there were no obvious differences between them. Chromosomal examination indicated tetraploidy (2n = 4x = 56) in all of the studied taxa. Molecular studies were accomplished by RAPD and sequencing of the ITS region to construct a framework of relationships between the taxa. Molecular studies emphasized the difference in the four unknown taxa from others. The total evidence indicates that Berberis L. shows a high percentage of polyploidy and hybridization.

The present revision focuses on the enigmatic Southwest Asian genus Aethionema in Iran based on taxonomic literature, fieldwork, and study of over 400 herbarium specimens. As a result of the present study, A . diastrophis and A. transhyrcanum are newly found for Iran. The former is morphologically closer to A . membranaceum and A . kopetdaghi rather than to A. spinosum, under which it was previously synonymized. Aethionema edentulum and A . levandowskyi are placed in the synonymy of A . membranaceum and A . grandiflorum, respectively. The genus is represented in Iran by 16 species, of which six are endemic. Detailed descriptions, distribution maps, IUCN conservation status assessments, and illustrations of the species are provided. The lectotypes of A . cordatum , A . elongatum, A . fimbriatum , A . grandiflorum , A . koenigii , A . moricandianum , A . pallidiflorum , A . pulchellum , A . recurvum , A . schelkownikowii , A . sintenisii , A . spinosum , A . stenopterum , A . umbellatum , A . virgatum , A . woronowii , Lepidium intricatum , and Moriera gracilis are designated.

The oligotypic Irano-Turanian mustard genus Spryginia (Brassicaceae, Euclidieae) is revised in Iran and Afghanistan. Species composition and distribution within the region are clarified. Unlike previously believed, the genus includes two (not one) species in the studied area. Both S. afghanica and S. winkleri are distributed in Afghanistan while only the latter species occurs in Iran representing the first record of the genus for the country. Updated morphological descriptions, data on type specimens, ecology, phenology, and distribution map of both species within the studied area are provided. Spryginia winkleri is illustrated based on Iranian material. A modified generic key is also presented.

The genus Linum consists of 15 species in Iran. A new species as well as a new record from Iran is described and illustrated here as L. khorassanicum and L. turcomanicum, respectively. The original description of the latter species is incomplete and ambiguous, probably due to incomplete taxon sampling. In this work, after a comprehensive taxon sampling from the entire distribution range of the species in northeast of Iran, the taxonomic description of L. turcomanicum is completed. The present study considers morphological and molecular (the nrITS region) analyses of the both species. In phylogenetic analysis based on the molecular data, we included these species and some related Linum species to examine the phylogenetic relationship of the new species and L. turcomanicum with other members of the genus. Linum turcomanicum is morphologically almost similar to L. austriacum and L. perenne , but it can be distinguished from them on the basis of several traits such as fruiting-pedicel form and length of petal. Likewise, results obtained from the molecular phylogenetic tree are consistent with those obtained from the morphological data. Linum khorassanicum is well characterized morphologically by having erect fruiting pedicels and inflorescence with few flowers. Our results suggest that the morphological data are in agreement with the molecular phylogenetic tree in which the taxonomic status of L. khorassanicum is confirmed as a new species. Based on IUCN Red List categories and criteria, L. khorassanicum and L. turcomanicum are evaluated as Endangered and Near Threatened species, respectively.

Iris ferdowsii is described and illustrated as a new species from Khorassan-Kopet Dagh floristic province in NE Iran. It is closely related to the rhizomatous bearded irises of I. sect. Regelia. The species of this section are distributed mainly in the east of Iran, Afghanistan, west of Pakistan and Middle Asia. Diagnostic morphological characters, and notes on distribution, habitat and conservation status of the new species are provided.

" The genus Carex L. is one of the largest (2000 spp.) of all flowering plant genera. There are 85 species of Carex in Iran plateau with approximately half of them are present in Iran. We investigated morphologically nine species of Carex from two subgenera, Vignea and Carex, in Northeast of Iran. In this study, 102 characters were assessed including 53 quantitative and 49 qualitative characters. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis (UPGMA) were used to examine the relationships between taxa included in this study. Consequently, two major groups were identified; first group consists of C. pachystylis J. GAY., C. divisa, HUDS., C. physodes M.B., C. divulsa STOKES., and C. cuprina (Sandor ex Heuff.) Nendtv.ex A.Kern.; and second group includes C. sylvatica HUDS., C. songorica KAR. &KIR., C. distans L., and C. diluta M. B. In the PCA, two species C. diluta and C. distans were not well separated while the cluster analysis seemed to be better for distinguishing these two species. We concluded that micro-morphological characters are somewhat, but not fully, useful for species boundaries. Finally we provided revised key for the identification of these nine species."

" The seed morphology of six species of the genus Juncus L. (Juncaceae), involving wild annuals and perennials was studied in Northeast of Iran using Light and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Seed morphology (light microscope) of the investigated species exhibits certain variations in shape, size and surface ornamentation. Results of SEM analysis reveals that there are different patterns of seed surface. Seed shape and surface structure exhibit some diversity among taxa indicating systematic significance in species differentiation. An identification key to the investigated taxa is provided based on seed characters in this research."