Hedysarum sunhangii Juramurodov & Tojibaev, 2021

Juramurodov, Inom, Tojibaev, Komiljon, Nikitina, Elena, Makhmudjanov, Dilmurod, Yusupov, Ziyoviddin, Deng, Tao & Dehkanov, Davron, 2021, Hedysarum sunhangii (Fabaceae, Hedysareae), a new species from Pamir-Alay (Babatag Ridge - Uzbekistan), Phytotaxa 524 (1), pp. 1-13 : 4

Hedysarum sunhangii Juramurodov & Tojibaev , sp. nov. (Figs. 4,6–7).

TYPE:— UZBEKISTAN. Surkhandarya province, Babatag Ridge, Khodja kulsunsai tract , 1050 m, 38.328024°N, 68.218302°E, 24 May 2019, Beshko N., Makhmudov A., 2405201907 (Holotype: TASH! barcode TASH058995; Isotypes: TASH! barcodes TASH058996, TASH058997,TASH058998) . Paratype: — UZBEKISTAN. Surkhandarya province, Babatag Ridge, vicinity of the tract Khojakulsun , 1025 m. a.s.l., 38.320062° N, 68.225442° E, 22 May 2020, Juramurodov I., Makhmudjanov D., Pulatov S., Jabborov A., Rahmatov A., Madaminov F., Habibullaev B., 22052020106 ( TASH! barcode TASH058924) .

Diagnosis:— H. sunhangii differs from H. nuratense by its leaflets elliptic, ovate or broadly ovate, calyx 7–9 mm long, standard 2–3 mm shorter than the keel. It differs from H. criniferum by its leaves with 3–4 pairs of leaflets, leaflets 16–30 mm long, 12–20 mm wide, standard 11–13 mm long, wing 4–5 mm long, keel 14–16 mm long.

Description:— Perennial herbs, the entire plant sericeous-villose. Steams numerous, angular, 25–40 cm high; stipules triangle, hairy on the outside, inside glabrous, submembranous, linear-subulate, elongate, 6–8 mm long, hardly connate. Leaves imparipinnate, 6–13 cm long, with 3–4 pairs of leaflets; leaflets flat, elliptic, ovate, or broadly ovate, 16–30 mm long, 12–20 mm wide, obtuse, lower side more densely white-hairy, with prominent lateral nerves. Peduncles terminal, hardly longer than leaves (without raceme); racemes short when flowering, elongated when fruting, narrow, with 7–20 flowers; flowers 15–20 mm long; pedicels 1-2 mm long; bracts linear-lanceolate, 4.5–5.5 mm long, hairy, caducous; bracteoles 2, filiform, 1.2–1.7 mm long; calyx campanulate, 7–9 mm long, calyx teeth linear-subulate, teeth of different lengths, 2.5 to 3 times as long as tube, shorter than the corolla (not nearly as long as corolla); corolla dark or light pink, 13-16 mm long; standard shorter than keel, with limb oblong-oval, 11–13 mm long; wings 4–5 mm long; keel 14–16 mm long, limb obliquely triangular; ovary hairy. Legume divided into 2–4 articles; article suborbicular, 5–7 mm long, ribbed, transversely nerved, pubescent, densely beset along nerves with numerous prickles elongated into long reddish bristles up to 4 mm long; seeds ca. 3 mm long, 2.5 mm wide, convex, light-brown, smooth (Figs. 4 and 7).

Phenology: —Flowering in May, fruiting in late May to early June.

Distribution and Habitat:— Based on our observations over two years, it was determined that this species has a narrow distribution area. It is known only from the type locality in the Babatag Ridge which is located in the southeast Surkhandarya province in Uzbekistan (Fig. 5). H. sunhangii grows on red clay soil at 900–1100 m a.s.l.

Conservation status:— As many other Hedysarum species occurring in Central Asia, H. sunhangii is an endemic with restricted distribution area, currently known only from the type locality. More research in field is required for the definition of the distribution, population size, threats, etc., to assess the conservation status according to the IUCN (2019) categories and criteria. In fact, species with a very restricted distribution are usually considered either as Critically Endangered, according to IUCN criteria B and C (e.g. Alam & Ali 2010, Wagensommer et al. 2014, 2017, Le Breton 2019), or as not threatened/near threatened, especially if there is no observed decline (e.g. Brummit et al. 2008, Perrino et al. 2018, Wagensommer et al. 2020).

Etymology:— The specific epithet refers to the Chinese botanist, Prof. Hang Sun who has established intensive cooperations in Botany between Uzbekistan and China.