Centaurea kurdica Reichardt (1863: 1042)

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

22. Centaurea kurdica Reichardt (1863: 1042) . Type:— TURKEY. Bingöl: Kurdistaniae armenae provincial Muschad pagum Boglan, loco Angagdicto, ad ripas fluvii Murad-Tschai; semina legit Th. Kotschy. Planta inhorto Vindobonensi culta floruit, July 1863, Kotschy 2346 (lectotype W! designated by Wagenitz 1960: 478, isolectotypes W!)

Biennial plants, with thick and long-stout taproot, whole plant usually green, 40–80 cm tall; collar of fibrous petiolar remains present at stem base. Stem erect, simple, sometimes branched from base to median part, 6–11 mm in diam. at base, cylindrical, yellowish, brownish or greenish, densely leafy in lower to median parts, lower part loosely covered with hirsute-articulate hairs, other parts densely covered with tomentose hairs. Leaves firm, papyraceous (on drying), undivided, loosely covered with tomentose hairs, denser along midrib and veins. Basal and lower cauline leaves large, with a 8–22 cm petiole, ovate, oblong-ovate or lanceolate, 16–40 × 3.5–8(–12) cm, sometimes lower ones narrowed toward base, rarely withered at anthesis, entire, rarely denticulate, acute at apex. Median cauline leaves sessile, subpandurate, lanceolate or oblanceolate, 8–24 × 2–7 cm, broadly decurrent, up to 40 mm along stem, sometimes winged, entire, acute or obtuse at apex. Upper cauline leaves increasingly smaller, sessile, lanceolate or narrowly lanceolate, 3–10 × 0.5–2 cm, broadly decurrent, entire, acuminate at apex. Capitula several, usually 5–10 but sometimes 50, arranged in a raceme or spike, upper peduncles 2–7 cm long or subsessile, sometimes lowest with peduncle up to 25 cm, with bracts similar to phyllaries with small stramineous or chaffy appendages. Involucres ovoid or globose, (38–)40–50 × 40–50(–55) mm. Phyllaries multiseriate, greenish-yellow in sicco, imbricate, coriaceous-scarious, glabrous. Appendages large, totally concealing phyllaries, white, orbicular or orbicular-ovate, sometimes broadly triangular, not decurrent, margin entire or rarely laciniate in upper part, sometimes ciliate with 10–16 (1–4 mm long) cilia on each side ( subsp. ciliata ), contracted into a (5–)8–15(–20) mm spine. Outer phyllaries rectangular or oblong, 4–5 × 4–5 mm, appendages 13–15 × 11–12 mm (including spine), rarely decurrent. Median phyllaries rectangular, 7–13 × 7–10 mm, appendages (13–)15–30 × 14–18 mm (including spine). Inner phyllaries oblong or narrowly oblong, 11–22 × 4–8 mm, membranous at margins, appendages 4–10 × 3–8 mm (including spine). Flowers pink, sometimes orange-like in sicco; central florets hermaphroditic, 32–36 mm long, corolla 13–15 mm long, 5-lobed, lobes ca. 6–7 mm long; peripheral florets sterile, slightly shorter than central ones, numerous (15–25 in each capitulum) and conspicuous, finely dissected, not radiant, 28–32 mm long, 5-lobed, limb lobe filiform, ca. 5 mm long. Achenes oblong, 6.5–7.5 mm long, ca. 2.3–2.8 mm wide, smooth, pale brown, whitish or bronze-silver, rounded at apex, glabrous; insertion areole lateral, yellowish, ca. 1.2 mm long. Pappus persistent, double, multiseriate, scabrous, brown, pappus 10–12 mm long, bristles of inner rows much shorter than others, ca. 2 mm long.

Taxonomic and distribution remarks: — Centaurea kurdica is endemic to Bingöl, Diyarbakir, Elaziğ, Muş and Tunceli Provinces, E and SE Turkey ( Fig. 47 ). It is an Irano-Turanian element, and grows on rocky slopes, steppe and fallow field, at elevations of 700–1500 m. Centaurea kurdica has a greater distribution in comparison to the other species of C. sect. Cynaroides in Turkey. It is similar to C. sclerolepis in its appendages being large, totally concealing phyllaries, white, orbicular or orbicular-ovate, and also flowers being pink. However, it differs from C. sclerolepis by its basal and lower cauline leaves undivided, with a long petiole (vs. lyrate, with 2–4 pair lateral segments, with a short petiole), lower cauline leaves ovate, oblong-ovate or lanceolate, 16–40 cm long, sometimes narrowed toward base (vs. broadly lanceolate to broadly ovate, 18–30 cm long, simple), capitula usually 5–10 but sometimes 50, arranged in a raceme or spike (vs. capitula 3 to 6(–12), arranged in a raceme), involucres (38–)40–50 × 40–50(–55) mm (vs. 35–40 × 30–40 mm), spine (5–)8–15(–20) mm (vs. 3–8(–10) mm) long, median appendages (13–) 15–30 mm (vs. 10–18 mm) long, flowers 32–36 mm (vs. ca. 25 mm) long, achenes 6.5–7.5 mm (vs. 4–5 mm) long, and also pappus 10–12 mm (vs. 8–10 mm) long.

Figures

FIGURE 47. Distribution of Centaurea karamianiae (circles), C. kurdica subsp. kurdica (squares), and C. kurdica subsp. ciliata (triangles).