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Echinophora scabra Gilli (1959: 193) Type:— AFGHANISTAN. Berghang zwischen Tschardeh und dem Logartal, şdlichvomerstgenannten Fundort, sandige Stelle zwischen Glimmerschiefer, 1840 m, 27 July 1949, A. Gilli 2010 (lectotype W, barcode W1961-0015028 image!), designated here. Residual syntype:— AFGHANISTAN. Scher Darwasah-Kette bei Kabul: Tobfels am Scher Darwasah, auf Schuttrinnen zwischen Hornblendeschieferfelsen, 1840 m, 14 July 1950, A. Gilli 2011 (W, barcodes W1972-0008964!, W1972-0008965!). Perennial, branched herbs, up to 60 cm tall. Stems striate to slightly sulcate, scabrid with short upright or curved hairs. Radical leaves narrow ovate to oblong, 2–3 pinnate, 6–40 × 1.5–12 cm, petiolate and sheathed; segments 4–7 pairs, narrow ovate-oblong or cuneate-oblong, 3–20 × 2–10 mm, with small rigid ovate or lanceolate lobes; lobes straight or curved, slightly acute or mucronulate; lower segments with petiolule, upper segments sessile. Lower cauline leaves narrow ovate to oblong, 3–15 cm long, uni-pinnate or simple, petiolate and sheathed; segments in pinnate leaves ovate or lanceolate. Upper cauline leaves elongated ovate or trifid, 0.7–1.4 cm, simple or uni-pinnate, sheathed. Fruiting umbels numerous, terminal and lateral, 3.2–4 cm in diameter. Peduncles (0.2–)1.2–8(–15.5) cm. Bracts 3–5, subulate, triangular or triangular-lanceolate, 3–10 mm long, almost equal, pubescent, spiny. Rays 2–7, 6–13 mm long, equal or unequal, thick, deflexed, pubescent, usually purplish at the base. Bracteoles 6–8, triangular-lanceolate, 1–6 mm long, unequal, horizontal or slightly curved, indurated and spiny, pubescent, hairs 37.5–220 µ long. Umbellula’s outer flowers male, 4–5, pedicels 2–4.5 mm long, unequal, in fruiting stage indurated and erect, pubescent, hairs 25–300 µ long. Umbellula’s central flower bisexual, sessile, surrounded with male flowers; sepals absent; petals obovate emarginate, with incurved lacinulas, 0.5–1 mm long, almost equal, pale yellow or red, minutely hispid. Male flowers’ calyx lobes lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 1.2–7 mm long, persistent, pubescent, hairs 10–37 µ long; Petals same as bisexual central flower. Fruiting umbellule almost cylindrical, 9–11 × 5–6 mm, pubescent, hairs 25–300 µ long, curved or upright. Mericarps bi- or mono-carpellate, ovoid to cylindrical-ovoid, 5–10 mm long, pubescent, hairs 30–460 µ long. Stylopodium conical, glabrous. Styles divergent or erect, sometimes curved at the end, 2–3.7 mm long, almost glabrous (Figure 1). Taxonomic remarks. Echinophora scabra can be morphologically distinguished from E. sibthorpiana Gussone (1832: 69) and E. tenuifolia Linnaeus. (1753: 239) by paucifolious stems, extremely reduced cauline leaves, purplish flattened rays’ base, distributed bractlets in different parts of umbellula (not arranged in a single circle at the basis of the umbellula), presence of pedicel cavity by fused pedicels around most part of mericarp, free pedicels only at the end, fewer and shorter umbellula’s male pedicels, male flowers’ sepal up to 7 mm long, emarginate petals, style longer than 2 mm, mericarp hairs up to 460 µ (not up to 160 µ in E. sibthorpiana Gussonne and E. tenuifolia Linnaeus), smaller vascular bundles rather than vittae and ratio of endosperm furrow depth to endosperm thickness less than 0.6 (also refer Table 1). Anatomical and micromorphological remarks. Mericarps 2, remain intact at maturity, slightly compressed dorsally, heteromorphic, in transverse section almost round, crowned with pedicels. Ratio of mericarp width to thickness 0.98–1.1. Ribs only primary; 1 median rib; 2 equal lateral ribs; 2 equal marginal ribs; all ribs non-prominent. Commissural wings absent. Mesocarp includes thin-walled non-lignified parenchymatous cells. Vittae are vallecular and commissural; vallecular vittae 1 in each furrow, large elliptic; commissural vittae 2, almost large elliptic; vittae almost equal. Vascular bundles 5, elongate or flat elliptic, almost equal; vascular bundles strongly smaller than vittae. Rib secretory ducts in large mericarp tiny or small elliptic, present in all ribs (above the bundles). Endocarp of one single layer. Ratio of endosperm width to thickness 0.9–0.93; endosperm deeply grooved, ratio of endosperm furrow depth to endosperm thickness 0.55–0.6 (Figure 2). Fruiting umbellula’s hairs in transverse section flat or almost round or polygonal, hairs surface papillate. Mericarp’s hairs in transverse section round or almost flat, hair surface papillate. Umbellula surface ribbed-reticulate-striate, with 5–25 µ platelet secretions. Fruit surface ribbed, lots of platelet secretions present, platelets 2.5–8 µ. Styles deeply striate with fine ribs, platelet secretions 2.5–13 µ (Figure 3). Distribution: — Afghanistan and Pakistan (Figure 4) Phenology: —Flowering in July and August. Habitat: —This species grows on rocky slopes, plains and Artemisia -steppe, 1830-2400 m (Hedge & Lamond 1973). Conservation status: — Echinophora scabra is a regionally endemic species that is restricted to eastern and south-eastern Afghanistan and partly north-central Pakistan. Based on IUCN Red List categories and criteria, the Extent of Occurrence (EOO) and Area of Occupancy (AOO) of the species are estimated at 23839 and 12500 km 2, respectively, with a maximum distance of 500 km between pairs of distribution points. Therefore, the conservation status of the species is not in any threatened categories, but in Near Threatened (NT). Additional specimen examined: — AFGHANISTAN. Kabul: ober Tang-i-Gharu, 4 km unterhalb des Einganges, 1750 m, 34°29՛N, 69°22՛E, 25 August 1978, D. Podlech 32348 (G00405973!, KUFS005037!); Kabul-Lataband road, 1980 m, 34°30՛N, 69°15՛E, 25 August 1965, J.D.A. Stainton 5054 (E00787185!, W1967-0008527!); Lataband, 21 August 1950, O.H. Volk 1167 (W1963-0000431!); Tobfels am Scher Darwasah auf Schuttrinnen zwischen Hornblendeschieferfelsen, 1840 m, 14 July 1950, A. Gilli 2011 (W1972-0008965!); Berghang zwischen Tschardeh und dem Logartal, sand von Glimmerschiefer, 1840 m, 27 July 1949, A. Gilli 2010 (W1961-0015028!). Prov. Ghazni: Aqasi (zwischen Ghazni und Nawar), 2320 m, 1 August 1970, D. Podlech 19220 (KUFS015521!)., Published as part of Khajehpiri, Maryam, Saeidi, Hojjatollah, Farge, Catherine La & Ghahremaninejad, Farrokh, 2023, Typification and taxonomy of Echinophora scabra (Echinophoreae, Apioideae), pp. 145-152 in Phytotaxa 594 (2) on pages 148-151, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.594.2.6, http://zenodo.org/record/7900416, {"references":["Gilli, A. (1959) Neue Umbelliferenaus Afghanistan. Feddes Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis 61: 193 - 194. https: // doi. org / 10.1002 / fedr. 19590610302","Hedge, I. C. & Lamond, J. M. (1973) A Review of the Tribe Echinophoreae (Umbelliferae). Notes from Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 32 (2): 167 - 188."]}

Iris pseudomeda Salimbahrami & Saeidi, sp. nov. (Figs. 1 ���2,4A) Type:��� IRAN. Kurdistan province: Divandarreh, Zarrineh rural district, 36��05��67���N 46��54��24���E, 2140 m of elevation, 26 May 2019, Saeidi & Salimbahrami 23404 (holotype HUI!; isotypes HUI!). Diagnosis:��� In terms of vegetative characteristics, I. pseudomeda differs from I. meda by having exactly 4 leaves not more, almost erect, vividly membranous and smooth edge versus strongly falcate and crinkled margin with inconspicuously membranous parts of the edge in I. meda. Furthermore, I. pseudomeda shows green spathe valves, swollen and acuminate (not lanceolate and purplish green), with 4���5.5 cm in length (not longer). Regarding the floral differences, excepting the smaller perigon size, the golden brownish flower of I. pseudomeda with crenate segments densely bearded by white long hairs stunningly impresses at first glance rather than the yellowish colour of I. meda with entire petals, usually yellow and nearly scattered hairs, not compacted in a bushy form (Figs. 2���3). In addition, I. pseudomeda varies by its blunt elliptic falls with the wing-like extension at the middle part and spatulate standards vs. obtuse lanceolate falls and obovate standards as it is in I. meda (Fig. 6). Comparing with I. barnumae, the floral differences are more obvious, excluding perigon size and its purple colour, I. barnumae differs by slender and purplish green coloured spathe valves, obovate falls and standards barely veined by rounded apex bearing yellow or dark purple diffuse hairs and unclear signal spot (Figs. 2���3). Description:��� Plant herbaceous perennial, 8���15 cm high, forming small bunches sitting very close together. Rhizome short and knobby, creeping horizontally with very slender roots. Leaves 4, basal with transparent leaf sheaths, straight but nearly curved only in longer ones, 0.2���0.3 cm broad, greyish green, glabrous, with shiny hyaline and smooth margin. Stem (5���)7���9(���10) cm long, erect, 1-flowered. Spathe with 2 valves, green, swollen, 4���5.5 cm long, acuminate, glabrous, membranous at the edge and broadly membranous at the tip. Flower 3���5 cm in diameter, brownish. Perigone tube 1���3 cm long. Falls 3.5���4 cm long, 0.8���1.5 cm wide, blunt elliptic, minutely crenulate, reflexed at the inconspicuous wing-like parts, brown at the upper half and shiny yellow at lower half, heavily veined by darker brown with purple signal blotch downright above the beard (purplish patch spread on upper half and amalgamated by the ground color), bearing long white hairs in a bushy form at the middle of falls to the base. Standards 3.5���4 cm long, 0.5��� 1 cm wide, oblong to spatulate with almost the same ground colour in upper and lower parts as falls, strongly veined darker brown, both crenate and undulate. Anthers 1.3���1.5 cm long, whitish. Filaments 1.3���1.5 cm long, whitish. Style branches 1.5���2 cm long, 0.8���1.5 cm wide, obovate, crenate, golden yellow intensely dotty (in a way seen as brownish inside). Stigma crenate, narrowly reflexed at the highest edges, with rounded crests and superficially bilobate. Immature capsule spindle-shaped, 2 cm. Etymology:���The specific epithet ��� pseudomeda ��� refers to its morphological affinities with Iris meda, an exclusively Persian species from western Iran, to which the new species is akin, especially by the golden brilliance of its flowers. Phenology:���Flowering from early May to the early June. Fruiting will have been completed by mid-June, as soon as the temperature rises for the first time after flowering. Distribution: ��� Iris pseudomeda is considered as a locally endemic species, most probably isolated in a small population but may be found in the same elevation and climatic conditions around, in Kurdistan province. Until now, the species is only known from the type location distinctly different from other comparable species based on old addresses. Ecology and habitat: ��� Iris pseudomeda grows on stony slopes and hillsides between the elevation of 2000���2200 m in the Kurdistan Province, northwest of Iran (Fig. 4A). Flowering and fruiting time of plants in high altitudes occur within brief vegetative seasons due to the intensively arid summers and long-term snow covering. As the latter reason provides water resources, thereby, snowmelt is a key factor determining the vegetation patterns in high mountainous areas (Noroozi 2008). Consequently, flexible phenology of Oncocyclus in western and northwestern Iran is understandable, and that is why completely mature capsule and seed of I. pseudomeda were not available for the present study. This new species inhabits Kurdo-Zagrosian ecoregion within subalpine zone associated with Astragalus sp. pl., Prangos sp., Poa sp. and Lactuca orientalis Boissier (1875: 819) (Fig. 4B). Conservation status:��� According to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (IUCN 2019), I. pseudomeda need to be addressed as a Critically Endangered species (CR, B1+2ab(iii)). It is at present restricted to a narrowly bounded population and finite locations. During our first collecting trip to the type locality, we also observed that it had been extremely grazed by a herd of farm animal in a non-protected area (Fig. 4B). Taxonomic relationships: ���Species of I. sect. Oncocyclus are distributed across the eastern Mediterranean, Turkey, Caucasian area and Iran, typically in minor populations (Mathew 1989). Their geographical distribution in Iran occurs from western and northwestern region within Zagros mountain range to the north and northeastern parts on Alborz mountain range, extending to the northern Khorasan. Also, they spread through central Iranian plateau within southern Alborz and Zagros mountains to central Iranian range (Mazhari 2000, Memariani & Joharchi 2017). Iris pseudomeda is located in the subalpine zone of Kurdo-Zagrosian steppe-forest ecoregion, in northwestern Iran (Zohary 1973). Based on the recent biogeographical analyses of Oncocyclus, the Caucasus has been considered as an ancestral area (Wilson et al. 2016) southerly bordering the northwestern part of Iran, and the northeastern region of Turkey (Solomon et al. 2014). Regarding the northwesternmost distribution of I. meda area and the southernmost area of I. barnumiae f. protonyma (Stapf 1932: t. 9279) Mathew & Wendelbo (1975: 34), they approach along the northern Kurdistan province, and it was proposed that there might be an introgression zone between these two species (Mathew & Wendelbo 1975). It has been mentioned that I. meda is characterized by variously and very wide range of coloured hairs and segments (Mathew 1989, Mathew & Wendelbo 1975). Among the localities cited for I. meda, there are only two being very close to the type locality of I. pseudomeda. The one reported in Flora Iranica, ��� Kurdistan, 3 km N Zarineh, 2160 m of elevation (E00332842,1966)��� fits I. meda remarkably showing an extra pair of spathes in company with two externally falcate leaves and two internally erect leaves. The second locality indexed in Flora of Iran, ��� Kurdistan, Ahmadkaar, between Sanandaj and Saghez, 2100 m of elevation, 2000��� was marked by purple hairs and complex form of leaves in a similar way as the last one. Both latter specimens have been considered as an exclusive hybrid species from Iran, I. meda �� I. barnumiae. The specimens regarded as hybrids were determined by at least a couple of intermediary morphological characteristics, but they pertained to either I. meda or I. barnumiae (Fig. 5). In the recent decades, by employing multivariate investigations on large data sets, it has been comprehended that morphological intermediacy is an unsatisfactorily inadequate reason for tracing back of the hybrid ancestry and this sort of specimens need to be studied by cytological methods, chemical and/or molecular markers (L��pez-Caamal & Tovar-S��nchez 2014). From this point of view, it should be noticed that not only does I. pseudomeda have distinctly coloured and shaped hairs, but it also turns up other distinguishable characteristics from both I. meda and I. barnumiae (Table 1). The newly described species is characterized by smaller size in total height and flower, brownish coloured and crenate segments, elliptic-shaped falls with inconspicuous wing-like extension and long whitish hairs spreading in a compact form (Fig. 3���5A, 6). In terms of morphology, I. pseudomeda is easily defined from other Oncocyclus species, even its affiliates in natural habitats, but as a pressed herbarium material it would be more challenging to be recognized from particularly I. meda, although its vegetative (not floral) traits, comprising the number and shape of leaves beside the form of spathe valves would come to help the identification process (Table 1). The most important character is that the brownish colour of I. pseudomeda flower segments turns bluish or purplish when dried, but in I. meda, it only gets dimmer yellowish., Published as part of Salimbahrami, Mona, Saeidi, Hojjatollah & Bagheri, Ali, 2021, Iris pseudomeda (Iridaceae), a new species of Iris section Oncocyclus from Iran, pp. 75-82 in Phytotaxa 527 (1) on pages 76-79, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.527.1.8, http://zenodo.org/record/5728845, {"references":["Noroozi, J., Akhani, H. & Breckle, S. W. (2008) Biodiversity and phytogeography of the alpine flora of Iran. Biodiversity and Conservation 17 (3): 493 - 521. https: // doi. org / 10.1007 / s 10531 - 007 - 9246 - 7","Boissier, E. (1875) Flora Orientalis 3. H. Georg, Geneva & Basileae, 1033 pp.","IUCN (2019) Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Version 14. Prepared by the Standards and Petitions","Mathew, B. (1989) The Iris. Batsford, London, 200 pp.","Mazhari, N. (2000) No. 31. Iridaceae. In: Assadi, M., Maassoumi, A. A., Khatamsaz, M. & Mozaffarin, V. (Eds.) Flora of Iran. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran, 87 pp. [In Persian]","Memariani, F. & Joharchi, M. R. (2017) Iris ferdowsii (Iridaceae), a new species of section Regelia from northeast of Iran. Phytotaxa 291 (3): 192 - 200. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / phytotaxa. 291.3.3","Zohary, M. (1973) Geobotanical foundations of the Middle East. Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, 739 pp.","Wilson, C. A., Padiernos, J. & Sapir, Y. (2016) The royal irises (Iris subg. Iris sect. Oncocyclus): Plastid and low-copy nuclear data contribute to an understanding of their phylogenetic relationships. Taxon 65 (1): 35 - 46. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.12705 / 651.3","Solomon, J., Shulkina, T. & Schatz, G. E. (2014) Red List of the Endemic Plants of the Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Russia, and Turkey. Sysematic. Botany Monograph 125: 1 - 451.","Stapf, O. (1932) Iris polakii protonyma. Curtis's Botanical Magazine 155: t. 9279.","Wendelbo, P. & Mathew, B. (1975) Iridaceae. In: Rechinger, K. H. (Ed.) Flora Iranica 112. Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz, 79 pp.","Lopez-Caamal, A. & Tovar-Sanchez, E. (2014) Genetic, morphological, and chemical patterns of plant hybridization. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 87 (1): 1 - 14. https: // doi. org / 10.1186 / s 40693 - 014 - 0016 - 0"]}

Akhavan, Azadeh, Saeidi, Hojjatollah, Fritsch, Reinhard M. (2014): Allium kuhrangense (Amaryllidaceae) a new species of Allium sect. Acanthoprason from Iran. Phytotaxa 170 (3): 213-218, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.170.3.7, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.170.3.7

Nasernakhaei, Fatemeh, Rahiminejad, Mohammad Reza, Saeidi, Hojjatollah, Tavassoli, Manoochehr (2013): Taxonomic identity of the Iranian diploid Triticum as evidenced by nrDNA ITS analysis. Phytotaxa 143 (1): 43-53, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.143.1.2, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.143.1.2