Silene wendelboi Assadi, Iran. Journ. Bot. 1(2): 181-183. 1977. (Assadi 1977)

Jafari, Farzaneh, Keshavarzi, Maryam & Rabeler, Richard K., 2022, Species delimitation and phylogenetic relationships of Silene villosa s. l. (Caryophyllaceae, sect. Silene s. l.) using nrDNA ITS and cpDNA rps 16, Plant Ecology and Evolution 155 (3), pp. 394-403 : 394

Silene wendelboi Assadi, Iran. Journ. Bot. 1(2): 181-183. 1977. (Assadi 1977)

Figs 3A-C , 4A-B

Type.

IRAN • Khuzestan, Albaji ; 30 m; 28 Apr. 1971; Gheisari 1252; holotype: TARI .

Description.

Annual herb, glandular and eglandular pubescent. Stem (4.5) 6-23 cm long, ascending. Leaves linear, 16-44 × 1-3.5 mm, sometimes internodes shorter than the leaves. Inflorescence more or less regular dichasial; pedicel (4-)5.5-16.5(-21) mm long; bracts herbaceous, linear. Calyx cylindric, membranaceous in the lower and herbaceous in the upper part, glandular-hairy, 17-23 mm long, more or less pendulous in fruit. Petals white, exserted, bifid. Coronal scales oblong, apex dentate, acute. Anthophore 8.5-12.5 mm long. Capsule 8-11 mm long. Seed reniform, compressed around the hilum.

General distribution.

Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (Fig. 5 ).

Distribution in Iran.

Khuzestan province, in the southwest of Iran.

Notes.

Silene wendelboi was accepted as part of S. arabica in Flora Iranica by Melzheimer (1988), while the specimen from Khuzestan, Pabot 392, was listed in both S. villosa and S. arabica . The handwriting on the label of the herbarium sheet shows it was identified as S. villosa .

We analysed the ITS and rps16 regions of a specimen from Basra, Iraq, from an area near Khuzestan province. It shows affinity with S. arabica in the ITS phylogeny (Fig. 1 ) and this subclade forms a clade with E Mediterranean species including S. damascena , S. palaestina , and S. discolor . The E Mediterranean species and S. wendelboi are sister to the rest of the S. sect. Silene s.l. in the rps16 phylogeny (Fig. 2 ). In the ITS tree, the accessions KJ004335, KF815498, KX282426, and KX282427 from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were erroneously identified and should be corrected to S. wendelboi .

Investigation of the herbarium specimens showed that the specimen from Basra (Rechinger 8725 (M)), earlier cited as S. villosa ( Rechinger 1964), belongs to S. wendelboi . We were able to examine the Rechinger specimen at B (Rechinger 8793) cited by Lazkov (2006) and the collection from the same locality (110 km SSW of Basra) cited by Townsend et al. (2016); as noted above, both specimens were indeed S. wendelboi .

Additional material examined.

IRAN • Khuzestan, 14 km E aggeris Kharkheh ( Karkheh ); 15 Mar. 1959; Pabot 382 ; IRAN • ibid.; Pabot 392 ; IRAN • Khuzestan, 20 km N Ahvaz , in arenosis cultis; 12 Mar. 1972; Iranshahr & Terme 14943-E ; IRAN • Khuzestan, NE Susangerd, Segure region, Farheh, sand dunes; 40 m; 12 Apr. 1985; Mozaffarian 53480; TARI • Khuzestan, NE Bostan around Mish-Dagh Mt. ; 50-200 m; 16 Apr. 1985; Mozaffarian 53727; TARI • Khuzestan, Ahvaz , Karkheh; 110 m; Jamzad, Naanaee & Salehi 79222; TARI • Khuzestan, ca 14 km to Omidieh from Ahvaz-Omidieh road, sandy area; 40 m; 11 Apr. 2008; Mozaffarian 93598; TARI .

IRAQ • Basra, Jabal Sanam ; ca 30°10'N, 47°30'E; 24 Mar. 1957; Rechinger 8725; M, E [E00987075, E00987076, E00987077] .

JORDAN • Aqaba, Wadi Rum; Emanuelsson 4371; S [S14-22379].

QATAR • 5 km E of Umm Bab; 15 Apr. 1987; El-Ghazaly & Nilsson 103; S [S17-61907] • E of Umm Bab; 15 Apr. 1987; El-Ghazaly & Nilsson s.n.; S [S17-61908].

Additional material examined (digital).

BAHRAIN • In sandy gullies along the western Imrock; 26-30 m; 17 Feb. 1986; Alder 14; E [E00046454] .

IRAQ • Al Zarqa, 12 km SE of Samawa ; 25 m; 30 Mar. 1957 ; Alkas, Natl. Herb. Iraq 17672; K [K000609855] • Basra, desertum meridionale (Southern Desert), ad confines territorii Kuweit, prope Chilawa , 110 km SSW Basra, in arenosis submobilibus; 170 m; 25 Mar. 1957 ; Rechinger 8793; B [B101107154] • Basra, nr. Chilwa , 110 km SSW of Basra; 170 m; 25 Mar. 1957 ; Guest, Rawi & Rechinger, Natl. Herb. Iraq 17208; K [K000609857] • Southern desert, Al-Ichrishi , 35 km E by N Busaiya; 115 m; 15 Apr. 1955 (1957?) ; Guest & Rawi, Natl. Herb. Iraq 14186; K [K000609859, K000609860] • Southern desert, Al Urmaigh , ca 30 km S of Tall Lahn; 75 m; 30 Mar. 1956 ; Guest & Mahmoud, Natl. Herb. Iraq 15305; K [K000609861] • ca 6 km W of Safwan (30 km S of Zubair ); ca 10 m; 23 Mar. 1957 ; Guest, Rawi & Rechinger, Natl. Herb Iraq 16946; K [K000609858] • Jebel Samara ; 23 Aug. 1919 ; Watson & Sharples s.n.; K [K000609856].

KUWAIT • 29°10 ’33” N, 47°43 ’39” E; 14 Feb. 2013; Abdullah MTA274; E [E00678805] .

LEBANON • Qana , Neford; 27 Apr. 1982; Dulici 2375; ALF [ALF038623] .

QATAR • Wadi Al Galaiel , toward the southern end of the Qatar Peninsula (Miocene); 2 Apr. 1977; Boulos 11130; E [E00648975] .

SAUDI ARABIA • 20 km N of Manijah, Gulf Coast; 3 m; 30 Mar. 1987; Collenette 6182; E [E00540018] • 12 km west of Zabirah Camp and 100 km N of Gila; 550 m; 24 Feb. 1985; Collenette 5073; E [E00540036] • Dhahran , Ash Sharqiyah; 26°18'N, 50°08'E; 21 Feb. 1964; Mandaville 52 ; US [ US 2512948] • ibid.; 19 Mar. 1965; Mandaville 366 ; US [ US 2512826] • Hail; 22-23 Mar. 1981; Chaudhary E-574; E [E00648973] • Nafud, near Kharais; 8 Apr. 1980; Chaudhary E 217; E [E00648979] • Mada’in salih; 26°47 ’21.947” N, 37°56 ’44.988” E; 799 m; 18 Mar. 2018; Bouchaud 6; P [P00915699] .

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Abu Dhabi • Al Markhaniyah, 2 km W of Tawwam Hospital at Al Ain ; 190 m; 26 Mar. 1982; Western 16; E [E00648977] • Zibara, ca 30 km N of new Abu Dhabi airport on road to Dubai; 25 m; 14-16 Apr. 1982; Western 41; E [E00648978] . - Dubai • 45 km from Al Ayn to Dubai; 300 m; 15 Feb. 1980; Edmondson E 3005; E [E00648972] • Dünen bei Al Awir; 100 m; 24 Mar. 1986; Müller-Hohenstein 86292; E [E00648971]. - Umm al Qawain • Tell Abrak, near Umm al Qawain; 10-50 m; 22 Feb. 1985; Western 771; E [E00046452] .

Figures

Figure 1. 50 % majority-rule consensus tree obtained from the Bayesian inference analysis of the nrDNA ITS sequences in selected species of Silene. Posterior probabilities (PP) ≥ 0.70 are shown above the branches and bootstrap values (BS) ≥ 75 below. Gray box shows S. sect. Silene s. l. Accessions newly sequenced are indicated by an asterisk. Two accessions of S. arabica that we did not confirm are indicated by a plus sign.

Figure 2. 50 % majority-rule consensus tree obtained from the Bayesian inference analysis of the cpDNA rps 16 sequences in selected species of Silene. Posterior probabilities (PP) ≥ 0.70 are shown above the branches and bootstrap values (BS) ≥ 75 below. Gray box shows S. sect. Silene s. l. Accessions newly sequenced are indicated by an asterisk.

Figure 3. Silene wendelboi Assadi (A-C) and Silene villosa Forssk. (D-E). A. Habit and habitat. B. Flowers. C. Seeds (53480 TARI). D. Flower. E. Seeds (45936 TUH). Photos A and B by Alexey Sergeev (https: // www. floraofqatar. com /); D by Ori Fragman-Sapir (https: // powo. science. kew. org /); C and E by Farzaneh Jafari.

Figure 4. A. Silene wendelboi Assadi, Iranshahr & Terme 14943 - E, IRAN. B. Silene wendelboi Assadi, Pabot 382, IRAN. Photos by Atiye Nejad Falatoury.

Figure 5. Distribution map of Silene villosa (red dots) and S. wendelboi (blue dots) based on specimens examined. The map was made with QGIS v. 3.22.9.