Cousinia masulehensis Attar & Rastegar, 2018

Rastegar, Azad, Attar, Farideh & Mirtadzadini, Mansour, 2018, Novelties in Iranian Cousinia sect. Cynaroideae (Asteraceae, Cardueae): new taxa and taxonomic notes, Phytotaxa 343 (3), pp. 227-239 : 231-235

3. Cousinia masulehensis Attar & Rastegar , sp. nov. ( Fig. 3 , 7 ).

Type:— IRAN. Guilan: 20 km from Masuleh to Khalkhal, near Jalalabad village , 2280 m, 5 August 2011, Attar & Zamani 42921 (holotype TUH; isotype TUH) .

Description: Monocarpic, up to 50 cm high. Stems branched from base, densely arachnoid, winged, leafy up to inflorescence. Basal leaves unknown; stem leaves lanceolate, interruptedly decurrent, densely arachnoid on both surfaces, grayish-whitish, concolored, gradually attenuate toward apex; leaves with spines up to 8 mm long at margin. Capitulum terminal, umbilicate, ca. 160-flowered; involucre 6–8.5 × 5–6 (including spines), densely grayish-arachnoid; phyllaries 30–50, appendiculate; imbricate, outer ones loosely recurved, spinose at margin; median ones folded completely, with up to six spinules on each side, appendages lanceolate-rhomboid, acuminate; inner ones with small rhomboid appendage; innermost ones exappendiculate, exceeding and recurved at apex; receptacle bristles scabrous at tip; corolla 20–30 mm, tube slightly longer than limb, yellow; anther tube milky-yellowish; apical anther appendages symmetric, gradually terminated. Mature achenes unknown.

Conservation status:— Cousinia masulehensis has a narrow distribution in the ecotone zone between Caspian mixed forests and highlands toward NW Iran. The area of occupancy and the extent of occurrence are 12 km 2 and 45 km 2 respectively. Based on these data, the species may be potentially assessed as Endangered.

Etymology:—The specific epithet refers to the type locality in Masuleh, Guilan Province, N Iran.

Phytochoria:—Irano-Turanian ( Zohary 1973, Takhtajan 1986).

Phenology:—Flowering, June–July; fruiting, July–August.

Distribution:—Endemic to Iran ( Fig. 6 ).

Additional specimens examined:— IRAN. Ardabil: Kolor, 2320 m, 12 September 2011, Attar, Raei & Zamani (TUH 43115). Ardabil: S Khalkhal, near Oskestan, 2540 m, 25 September 2013, Attar & Mirtadzadini (TUH 43969).

Discussion:— Cousinia masulehensis is close to C. kurdica Winkler & Bornmüller (1895: 567) and C. canescens Candolle (1838: 556) but differs from the latter by larger involucres, very dense upper leaves which covered base of the capitulum completely, spiny and leathery bracts, and curved appendages of median bracts ( Table 2). The geographical distance between the new species and C. kurdica (around Rawandiz, Kurdistan, Iraq) is more than 400 km ( Fig. 5 ), and also there is no record of intermediate specimens between these two species. The apical anther appendages, shape of capitulum, shape and size of bracts, and corolla color of C. masulehensis and C. canescens are clearly different from each other ( Fig. 4i,j ).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Holotype of Cousinia masulehensis.

FIGURE 4. The shape of apical anther appendages in some species of Cousinia sect. Cynaroideae. a. C. boyerahmadica. b. C. deluensis. c. C. barbeyi. d. C. bornmulleri. e. C. denaensis. f. C. farsistanica. g. C. pasargadensis. h. C. persepolitanus. i. C. masulehensis. j. C. canescens.

FIGURE 5. Cousinia macrolepis, new to Iran.

FIGURE 6. Distribution map of the new and newly reported taxa.

FIGURE 7. Flowering heads of Cousinia kurdica [B10 0093377] (a), and C. masulehensis [TUH 42921] (b). Scale bars=10 mm.