Centaurea cataonica Boissier & Haussknecht

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

7. Centaurea cataonica Boissier & Haussknecht in Boissier (1875: 669). Type :— TURKEY. C6 Maraş: in Tauro Cataonico prope Marasch, 490–610 m, 12 July 1865, Haussknecht s.n. (lectotype G! designated by Wagenitz 1960: 488, isolectotypes G!, JE!, W!)

Biennial plants, with thick fleshy taproot, whole plant usually green opaque, 30–50 cm tall; collar of fibrous petiolar remains present at stem base. Stem erect, simple, rarely branched from near base to median part, 3–5 mm in diam. at base, cylindrical, with thick yellowish or greenish striations, densely leafy in median part, lower part purplish and subglabrous or sparsely hirsute-articulate, other parts densely covered with white-tomentose hairs. Leaves rigid, usually divided, basal and lower ones sparsely covered with hirsute-articulate hairs, denser along midrib and veins, sometimes mixed with tomentose hairs, others loosely covered with white-tomentose hairs, rarely subglabrous. Basal and lower cauline leaves 9–15 cm long, with a short petiole, lyrate; terminal segment much larger, oblong or oblong-ovate, 6–8(–10) × 5–10 cm, cartilaginously denticulate or entire, acute or rounded at apex; lateral segments smaller, 1–2 pairs, shortly lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate or triangular. Median cauline leaves sessile, oblong, 5–10 × 1.5–5 cm, decurrent, up to 20 mm along stem, serrulate or entire, acute at apex. Upper cauline leaves smaller, sessile, lanceolate, 3–6 × 1–2 cm, narrowly decurrent, entire, mucronate at apex. Capitula few, ca. 4 to 6(–12), arranged in a raceme, subsessile or with peduncles up to 6 cm long, sometimes lowest ones with 3–4 heads ( “subsp. syriaca ”), with bracts similar to phyllaries with small stramineous and chaffy appendages. Involucres ovoid-subglobose, truncate at base, (25–)32–48 × 25–35 mm. Phyllaries multiseriate, green in vivo, yellow-brownish in sicco, imbricate, coriaceous-scarious, loosely tomentose. Appendages rigid-chartaceous, totally concealing phyllaries, non decurrent, broadly ovate to ovate, 5–8 mm wide at base (excluding cilia), sometimes dark brown to blackish ( “subsp. syriaca ”); cilia erect, straw-coloured, brown or white, numerous, (8–)10–13 on each side, 3–6(–8) mm long; spines robust, (2–) 4–10 mm long, slightly longer than nearest cilia. Outer phyllaries rectangular, 2–3 × 3–4 mm; appendages 6–8 × 8–10 mm (including cilia and spine), straw-coloured, with finely yellow striations. Median phyllaries oblong, 10–14 × 5–6 mm; appendages 14–18 × 14–18 mm (including cilia and spine), straw-coloured or mottled with brown, with finely yellow or brown striations. Inner phyllaries narrowly oblong to linear, membranous at margins, 15–18 × 4–5 mm; appendages ciliate or lacerate into a spine, brown, dark brown to blackish. Flowers purple; central florets hermaphroditic, 35–36 mm long, limb 15–16 mm long, 5-lobed, lobes ca. 7 mm long; peripheral florets sterile, equal to or slightly longer than central ones, numerous (15–20 in each capitulum) and conspicuous, finely dissected, slightly radiant, 4-lobed, limb lobes elongate filiform, 9–10 mm long. Achenes oblong, ca. 4.5–5 mm long, ca. 2.5 mm wide, smooth and shiny, brown or silver-bronze, rounded at apex, glabrous; insertion areole lateral, yellow, ca. 1 mm long. Pappus double, persistent, multiseriate, scabrous, brown to dark brown, ca. 7–7.5 mm long, bristles of inner rows much shorter than others, ca. 1.5 mm long.

Nomenclatural notes: —Regarding the authorship of the name, Index Kewensis, IPNI and Wagenitz (1960) misinterpreted it as Centaurea cataonica Boiss. & Hausskn. ex Boiss. The species was described for the first time in Boissier’s Flora Orientalis ( Boissier 1875) . When the authorship is shared, Boissier wrote both authors in brackets as C. cataonica (Boiss. & Haussk.) (Fl. Orient. 3: 669) that should be interpreted as C. cataonica Boiss. & Hausskn. in Boiss., but certainly not as C. cataonica Boiss. & Hausskn. ex Boiss. (Art. 46.2).

Taxonomic and distribution remarks: — Centaurea cataonica is distributed in S Turkey and N Syria ( Fig. 18 ). It is an Irano-Turanian element, and grows on dry pastures, Pinus forests ( Pinus brutia ) and Basalt soil, at elevations of

450– 900 m. Centaurea cataonica is similar to C. tomentella in its indumentum of leaves, shape and size of involucres and color of flowers. However, it differs from C. tomentella by its stem 3–5 mm (vs. 4–15 mm) in diam. at base, basal and lower cauline leaves lyrate, 9–15 cm long, with short petiole (vs. undivided, 17–33 cm long, with a long petiole (up to 22 cm long)), appendages rigid-chartaceous, broadly ovate to ovate, straw-coloured or mottled with brown to dark brown, 5–8 mm wide at base (excluding cilia) (vs. very firm, triangular, yellow and shiny, 4–5 mm wide at base (excluding cilia)), cilia (8–)10–13 (vs. 6–10) on each side, spines (2–) 4–10 mm (vs. (7–)9–12(–17) mm) long, flowers 35–36 mm (vs. 28–32 mm) long, and also pappus ca. 7–7.5 mm (vs. 8–10 mm) long.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Distribution of Centaurea cataonica subsp. cataonica (circles) and C. cataonica subsp. syriaca (squares).