Heracleum kurdistanicum Rastegar, Maroofi & Tabad, 2021

Tabad, Mohammad Aref, Maroofi, Hosein & Rastegar, Azad, 2021, Heracleum kurdistanicum (Apiaceae; Tordylieae), a new subalpine species from Dalanpar Mountain, NW Iran, Phytotaxa 508 (1), pp. 68-76 : 69

Heracleum kurdistanicum Rastegar, Maroofi & Tabad , sp. nov.

Type :— IRAN. Oshnaveieh , Dalanpar Mountain , Lat 35.824309°; Lon 46.529649°, 2750 m, 28 August 2018, M. A. Tabad 13939 (holotype HKS; isotype TARI) ( Figs. 1–3 ) .

Herbs, perennial, aromatic, 6–35 cm tall; caudex clothed by papery base of old petioles. Stems to 5 mm in diameter, base ±sulcate, scabrid, with acinaciform and falcate trichomes. Leaves: basal and median leaves pinnately trifoliolate, sheaths ±inflated, strongly ribbed, covered with short acinaciform trichomes except basally; leaflets 3, lateral leaflets suborbicular, sessile, 1.2–5× 1–3.5 cm, dentate or rarely lobate, terminal leaflet simple or 3-lobed; petiolule to 4.5 cm long; blade suborbicular or ovate, 2.5–10× 2.5–9 cm, base cordate, margin dentate; upper cauline leaves much smaller, lobate to pinnately trifoliate, sheath elliptic to oblong. Rays of inflorescence 4–8, unequal, 2.5–10 cm long in fruit, indumentum as on leaves and stem; bracts 0–2, ovate-oblong; bracteoles 0–2, oblong-lanceolate. Flowers non radiant, petals white or purple, abaxial indumentum as on leaves and stem; ovary scabrous, with dense long and short acinaciform or falcate trichomes; styles pubescent distally. Fruit obovoid, 12× 10 mm, retuse, scabrous with rather dense long and short acinaciform and falcate trichomes; dorsal vittae unequal, filiform-subclavate, septate at the half their length, 1/2–3/4 as long as mericarp; commissural vittae 2, ±equal, about 1/2 as long as mericarp. Figure 1 , Table 1.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes): — IRAN. Oshnaveieh : Dalanpar Mountain, 2650 m, 11 July 2017, M. A . Tabad 13830 ( HKS); Dalanpar Mountain, 2700 m, 21 July 2017, M. A . Tabad 14312 ( HKS) .

Distribution and habitat: —Subalpine cold, snowy, humid rocky habitats at 2500–2900 m. Heracleum kurdistanicum is known only from small populations on Dalanpar Mountain, NW Iran close to the border with Turkey ( Fig. 4 ).

Phenology:—Flowering July to August, fruiting August to September.

Etymology: —The specific epithet refers to Kurdistan, the land from which the new species was collected.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Heracleum kurdistanicum (HKS 13939).

FIGURE 2. Heracleum kurdistanicum. A, B, plant in flower; C, D, plant in fruit; E, basal leaves; F, habitat. Photographs by M. A. Tabad.

FIGURE 3. A, fruit overview; B, dorsal vittae (after removing epidermis); C, commissural vittae; D, mericarp cross section (DV, dorsal vittae; CV, commissural vittae; VB, vascular bundles; EN, endosperm; EX, exocarp); E, epidermis features. Hand drawings by A. Rastegar.

FIGURE 4. Distribution map of Heracleum kurdistanicum, H. argaeum, and H. schelkovnikovii.