Silene penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm., 2023

Jafari, Farzaneh, Keshavarzi, Maryam, Doostmohammadi, Moslem & Mirtadzadini, Mansour, 2023, Two new chasmophytic species of Silene (Caryophyllaceae, sect. Siphonomorpha) from Iran, European Journal of Taxonomy 860, pp. 42-61 : 52-55

Silene penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov.

urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77313984-1

Figs 1–3 , 6D‒F , 7–8 ; Table 1

Diagnosis

Silene penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. , sp. nov. differs from S. shahrudensis in basal leaf size (11‒60× 2.5‒4 mm vs 15‒35× 2.5‒6 mm), calyx length (9‒11 mm vs 8‒10 mm), petal limb length (5‒6 mm vs ca 5 mm), claw indumentum (glabrous vs ciliate), and capsule size (7.5‒8.5 × 4‒5 mm vs 4‒6 × 3‒4 mm) ( Table 1 ).

Etymology

The specific epithet refers to the status of the flowers: flowers are pendulous at flowering time in this species.

Material examined

Type IRAN – Kerman • Jupar Mountain ; alt. 3400 m; Jun. 1997; M. Mirtadzadini 2076; holotype: MIR! ; isotypes: MIR!, TARI !.

Paratypes IRAN – Kerman • Mahan, Palvar Mountain , western slopes; alt. 3300 m; 15 Sep. 2017; M. Doostmohammadi 4056; MIR ! • same collection data as for preceding; 14 Aug. 2020; M. Doostmohammadi & A. Ghorbanalizadeh 4054; MIR!. Genbank: LC710549 (ITS) and LC710551 (rps16) .

Description

Perennial plants, glabrous, internodes viscid. Stems 29.5‒40.5 cm tall, pale green, glabrous, viscid, internodes 32–82 mm long. Basal leaves 11‒60× 2.5‒4 mm, oblanceolate, base attenuate, apex rounded and acute, glabrous, glaucous; cauline leaves oblanceolate to linear, apex acute, 12.5–41 × 1.5–3.5 mm, often glabrous. Synflorescences laxly thyrsoid, pedicels 5‒9 mm long, glabrous. Bracteoles small, lanceolate, 2.5–3 mm long. Calyx cylindrical, 9‒11 mm long, glabrous, coriaceous; teeth membranous at the margin, triangular, 2 mm long, two teeth acute with narrow transparent margin, other three teeth slightly broader, rounded, and with broad transparent margin. Petals yellowish, claw 6–6.5 mm long, with broad lateral margins, glabrous, without coronal scales; limb 5‒6 mm long, oblanceolate, bifid to base. Anthophore 3.5 mm long, puberulent. Mature capsule 7.5‒9× 4‒5.5 mm, ovoid-oblong. Seeds 1–1.1 × 0.7–0.8 mm, basically reniform, seed testa cells elongate with V-shaped margins.

Distribution and habitat

Silene penduliflora sp. nov. is restricted to rocks in southeast Iran on the Jupar and Palvar mountains of Kerman Province at 3300‒3400 m altitude.

Remarks

Although S. penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov. and S. shahrudensis show more morphological resemblance to each other than to other close relatives, neither their ITS nor rps16 sequences reflect a closer relationship, and S. penduliflora and S. thyrsiantha F.Jafari, Mirtadz. & Keshavarzi sp. nov. form a well-supported clade in the rps16 tree ( Fig. 2 , PP= 1, MLB= 96%). Silene penduliflora and S. shahrudensis differ in pedicel length (5‒9 mm vs 6‒12 mm), calyx length (9‒11 mm vs 8‒10 mm), petal limb length (5‒6 mm vs ca 5 mm), surface of the claw (glabrous vs ciliate), and capsule size (7.5‒9× 4‒5.5 mm vs 4‒6× 3‒4 mm) ( Table 1 ). The margin of the seed testa cells is V-shaped in S. penduliflora while it is U-shaped in S. shahrudensis . Geographically, these two species are also distant. Silene sharudensis is confined to the central and eastern Alborz (north central Iran) while S. penduliflora is endemic to the highlands of Kerman in southeast Iran about 1000 km distant.

Despite the affinity of S. penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov. and S. thyrsiantha F.Jafari, Mirtadz. & Keshavarzi sp. nov. in the phylogenies, they differ in calyx length (9‒11 vs 8‒10 mm), secondary axis inflorescence (one flower vs more than one), capsule size (7.5‒9×4‒5.5 vs 5.5‒6× 3‒3.5 mm), anthophore length (3.5 vs 3 mm), petal limb shape (oblanceolate vs linear), and seed size (1–1.1× 0.7–0.8 vs 0.8× 0.6–0.7 mm). Although their calyx lengths overlap, the calyx in S. thyrsiantha is narrower than in S. penduliflora and both the capsules and seeds of S. thyrsiantha are smaller than those in S. penduliflora .

Silene penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov. differs from S. ghahremaninejadii in the calyx length (9‒11 mm vs 7‒9 mm), petal limb length (5‒6 mm vs 2‒3 mm), anthophore length (3.5 mm vs 2.5‒4 mm), and capsule size (7.5‒9× 4‒5.5 mm vs 6.5‒7 × 2.5‒3 mm).

Figures

Fig. 1. 50% majority-rule consensus tree obtained from the Bayesian inference analysis of the nrDNA ITS sequences in selected species of Silene L. Posterior probabilities (PP) ≥ 0.70 are shown above the branches and Maximum likelihood bootstrap (MLB) values ≥ 70% below. Accessions newly sequenced are indicated by a star. Accessions of S. ruprechtii Schischk. (MN420835 and MK559501) are misidentified by Bahmani et al. (2020).

Fig. 2. 50% majority-rule consensus tree obtained from the Bayesian inference analysis of the cpDNA rps16 sequences in selected species of Silene L. Posterior probabilities (PP) ≥ 0.70 are shown above the branches and Maximum likelihood bootstrap (MLB) values ≥ 70% below. Accessions newly sequenced are indicated by a star. Accessions of S. ruprechtii Schischk. (MN460318 and MN460319) are misidentified by Bahmani et al. (2020).

Fig. 3. Distribution map of S. ghahremaninejadii Hoseini & Assadi (blue dot), S. parrowiana Boiss. & Hausskn. (green dots),S. penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov. (red dots),S. shahrudensis Rech.f. (black dot), and S. thyrsiantha F.Jafari, Mirtadz. & Keshavarzi sp. nov. (purple dot). The map was made with QGIS ver. 3.22.9.

Fig. 6. A–C. Silene thyrsiantha F.Jafari, Mirtadz. & Keshavarzi sp. nov. (M. Mirtadzadini 2089; MIR!). A. Seed. B. Calyx. C. Petal. – D–F. Silene penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov. D. Seed (M. Doostmohammadi & A. Ghorbanalizadeh 4054; MIR!). E. Calyx. F. Petal (M. Doostmohammadi 4056; MIR!). Seeds were scanned with a Dino-Lite digital microscope AM413T model.

Fig. 7. Silene penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov. (holotype, M. Mirtadzadini 2076; MIR!).

Fig. 8. Silene penduliflora F.Jafari, Keshavarzi & Doostm. sp. nov. (paratypes, M. Doostmohammadi & A. Ghorbanalizadeh 4054; MIR!. M. Doostmohammadi 4056; MIR!). A‒B. Inflorescence at flowering and fruiting times. C. Basal leaves and caudex. D. Habit and habitat. Photos by: M. Doostmohammadi.