Valeriana alanyense Yüceol, Çeçen & Göktürk, 2024

Yüceol, Fulya, Çeçen, Ömer, Göktürk, Ramazan Süleyman, Kaya, Ergun & Ağar, Hacer, 2024, Valeriana alanyense (Caprifoliaceae): a new species from Southwest Anatolia (Turkey) based on morphological and molecular data, Phytotaxa 653 (1), pp. 79-90 : 81-83

Valeriana alanyense Yüceol, Çeçen & Göktürk , sp.nov. ( Fig. 1 )

Type:— TURKEY. C 4 Antalya: Alanya, in the upper regions of Yalçı , on calcareous rocky, Pinus brutia forest, 930 m a.s.l., 6 May 2023, F.Yüceol 1953 & R.S.Göktürk (holotype AKDU!, isotypes ANK!, GAZI!, HUB!, PAMUH!) .

Description:— Clump-forming perennial rhizomatous herbs. Rhizome circular, stoloniferous. Stems up to 50 cm tall, with 3−4 internodes, hollow, erect or ascending; 2.5−4 mm in diameter, pubescent, hairs denser and more conspicuous in the nodes. Leaves opposite, pinnatisect-imparipinnate or simple, usually pubescent tufted in vein axils, have a softness that gives them a velvety feel when touched, apex acute, margin entire to slightly crenate; terminal lobes well-defined, blades broad, ovate, ovate-cordate to broadly ovate; lateral lobes opposite to subopposite, becoming smaller to the base of the blade. Basal leaves simple or pinnatisect, 1−2 pairs, generally symmetric, 4−10 × 2−4 cm; terminal lobes up to 3 cm. Cauline leaves petiolate, 1−3 pairs, imparipinnate, 7.5−15 × 4−7 cm; terminal lobes well-defined, broadly ovate to ovate or lanceolate-ovate, 3−5.5 × 2−3 cm; lateral lobes 1.5−3 × 1−1.5 cm. Inflorescence thyrse compound cyme or capituliforme, turning reddish at the fruiting time and diffuse, 2.5−12.5 cm long, the nodes and internodes pubescent to scattered-pilose or glabrescent. Bracteoles simple, sessile, opposite, ovate or linear to lanceolate, 2−4 mm long, apex acute, glabrous or glabrescent, margin entire, mostly with a hyaline, membranous. Flowers hermaphrodite; the vestigial calyx enlarging and spreading, with 11−15 plumose pappus in fruiting time, bristles about 3 mm long. Corolla 4−5 mm long, white or pink, with 5−fused petals, tube 2−3 mm long. Stamens 3. Stigma 3−fid. Fruit an achene, 3 - veined on the abaxial side, 1−veined on the adaxial side and quite distinctly two along the margins, and abaxial ribs evident, lanceolate to elliptic, 3−4.5 × 1 mm, pubescent between the veins when mature becoming glabrescent.

Distribution and habitat: Valeriana alanyense is a herbaceous perennial plant and usually grows in clusters on crevices of shady calcareous rock in Pinus brutia Tenore (1815:72) forest between 380−1040 m a.s.l. in the upper regions of Yalçı and GümüŞkavak, in Alanya (southern coast of Turkey) ( Fig. 2 ).

Associated vegetation: According to our field observations in the region, some of the species associated with this endemic new species of Valeriana are: Ampelopsis orientalis (Lamarck) Planchon (1887: 462) , Arisarum vulgare O. Targ. Tozzetti (1810: 67) , Asplenium ceterach Linnaeus (1753: 1080) , Cercis siliquastrum Linnaeus (1753: 374) , Crataegus monogyna Jacquin (1775: 50) , Dactylis glomerata Linnaeus (1753: 71) , Dryopteris pallida (Bory) Maire & Petitmengin (1908: 480) subsp. pallida , Geranium purpureum Villars (1786: 272) , Hedera helix Linnaeus (1743: 202) , Origanum onite s Linnaeus (1753: 590), Ricotia sinuata Boissier & Heldreich (1849: 30) , Rubus canescens DeCandolle (1813: 139) , Scrophularia pinardii Boissier (1844: 70) , Styrax officinalis Linnaeus (1753: 444) , Valeriana italica Lamarck (1791: 92) .

Conservation status: This species is classified as Endangered (EN) according to IUCN (2024) criteria B2ab (i, ii, iii, v) due to its estimated area of occupation (AOO) being less than 500 km 2 (criterion B2) and severe fragmentation, with a presence in only three localities in Alanya district, where the authors collected it. However, further in field research is necessary to search for more occurring sites, to study the population dynamics and to assess the possible threats affecting the new species. This data could greatly change the assessment of the IUCN category, as demonstrated by many different assessments of newly described species, as CR ( Wagensommer & Venanzoni 2021), EN ( Brullo et al. 2015), VU ( Swanepoel et al. 2021), NT ( Latt et al. 2023), LC ( Siti-Munirah & Dome 2023), DD ( Chinchilla 2020).

Etymology: The specific epithet ‘alanyense’ refers to Alanya district, in the Antalya Province of South Anatolia, where the species was collected.

Phenology: Flowering and fruiting from May to June.

PCR reactions were performed using the six primers that gave the best band profile for the Valeriana genus among the twenty-five ISSR primers tested. By visualizing the products obtained as a result of ISSR PCR on agarose gel, a total of 65 band profiles ranging from 250bp to 1200bp were obtained from V. alanyense and V. speluncaria ( Fig. 3 ).

In the UPGMA phylogenetic dendrogram constructed as a result of the analysis of 1/0 scores using images of band profiles, it was seen that there may be a distinction at the species level between the two taxa ( Fig. 4 ). Distance matrix values were determined as 0 for the closest relationship between V. alanyense 1 and V. alanyense 2 in intraspecific population individuals, and as 0.483 for the most distant relationship between V. speluncaria 2 and V. speluncaria 4, which may be due to genetic expansion (Table 2).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Photographs of Valeriana alanyense Yüceol, Çeçen & Göktürk sp.nov. A. Habit B. Habitat C. Close-up of flowering inflorescence D. Reddish fruiting inflorescence. Photographs by R.S. Göktürk

FIGURE 2. Distribution map of Valeriana alanyense (●) and V. speluncaria (*) in Turkey.

FIGURE 3. Visualization of ISSR PCR band profiles on agarose gel. M1, 1kb DNA ladder; M2 100bp DNA ladder; (-), negative control without DNA template; (+), Positive control using DNA template from different species (Olea europaea L.).

FIGURE 4. Phylogenetic dendrogram was constructed via the UPGMA based on 1/0 scoring results of PCR band profiles analysed on agarose gel (The numbers on the branches are the numbers of individuals belonging to the population).