Cousinia oreodoxa Bornmüller & Sintenis (1911: 2)

Mehregan, Iraj & Assadi, Mostafa, 2016, A synopsis of Cousinia sect. Pseudactinia (Cardueae, Asteraceae) including a new species from NE Iran, Phytotaxa 257 (3), pp. 271-279 : 274

1. Cousinia oreodoxa Bornmüller & Sintenis (1911: 2)

Type:— TURKMENISTAN. Suluklü (Saratowka): In schistose mountain near the border with Iran, 30 July 1900, Sintenis 1000 (lectotype designated here: B! [B100093423], isolectotypes B!, E!, JE!, K!, M!, P!, W!, WU!).

Life form perennial , 40–80 cm high, branched at the base. Stems woody and covered with the remnants of old and curved withered petioles at the base, ended up to current year stems. Current year stems pubescent, brownish, branched at upper half, terminate to 3– to more than 10 capitulae. Basal leaves up to 15 cm long and 7 cm broad, lanceolate, attenuated at the base, hairy on both surfaces, lobed at the margin, distinctly nerved; lobes terminate to 15 mm long spines; stem leaves similar to basal ones, gradually diminish in size toward the capitulum; uppermost ones up to 2 cm long and broad, cordate or amplexicaule at the base. Synflorescence paniculate-corymbose. Capitulum solitary. Involucre ca. 25 mm long, ca. 15 mm broad, cylindrical, arachnoid; involucral bracts ca. 70, spiny at apex, without lateral teeth; outer and middle bracts up to 20 mm long, subulate; inner bracts linear-subulate. Flowers 50–80; corolla ca. 13–15 mm long, pale purple; tube 4–6 mm long; limb 7–9 mm; anther tube glabrous, violet. Achene 5–6 mm long, obpyramidal-obovate, compressed, edentate at the apex.

Taxonomic note: Since no lectotype has yet been selected, herbarium sheet B100093423 is designated here as a lectotype.

Distribution: Endemic to Kopet-Dagh (NE Iran and SW Turkmenistan; Fig. 3 ).

Further specimens examined: — IRAN. Northern Khorassan Province: ca. 70 km N of Chaman-Bid, 1000 m, 18 July 1976, Assadi & Massoumi 21448 ( TARI) ; Between Bojnourd and Raz, 7 km from Tangeh-Torkeman to Ashkhaneh , 1000 m, 17 July 2002, Mehregan 150 ( MJG) ; Bodjnourd, Gifan pass, 1833 m, Joharchi 36955 ( FMUH) .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Distribution of species belonging to C. sect. Pseudactinia (illustrated by I. Mehregan).