Seseli salsugineum A. Duran & Lyskov 2021, sp. nova
Creators: name: Duran, Ahmet
name: Samigullin, Tahir
name: Lyskov, Dmitry
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Apiales
Apiaceae
Seseli
Seseli salsugineum

description: Seseli salsugineum A.Duran & Lyskov sp. nova (Figs. 2-6, 8-9).
Type:— TURKEY. C4 Konya: Cihanbeyli, between Gölyazı-Tuz Gölü, 9th kilometer, 923 m, salty marshes, 25 September 2011, A.Duran & et al. 9855 (holotype: HUB, isotypes: ANK, MW barcode MW0595744, MW0595745, MW0595746, MW0595747).
Seseli salsugineum is similar to S. transcaucasicum and S. libanotis and differs from them in stem features (up to 200 cm high and 5‒15 mm ⌀ vs. up to 80 cm high and up to 5 mm ⌀ or up to 150 cm high and 10‒20 mm ⌀), stem base pubescence (glabrous vs. densely pubescent or sometimes pubescent), leaf blades pubescence (glabrous with scabrid margin not entirely scabrid or glabrous), umbellules (tight, 5‒12 mm ⌀ vs. not tight 13‒15 mm ⌀ or 5‒6 mm ⌀), mericarp ridges (finely ridged vs. distinctly ridged), fruit anatomy (vallecular vittae 3 vs. vallecular vittae solitary or 1‒2), habitat (salty marshes and salt steppes vs. grassy meadows, sparse forests, clearings in mountain forests, and subalpine meadows), and distributional range.
Erect, one-stemmed, mostly monocarpic, rarely biennial or perennial. Rootstock stout, 1.5‒3.5 cm ⌀, with long and dense fibrous collar remains. Stem up to 200 cm tall, solid, distinctly sulcate, at base 0.5‒1.5 cm ⌀, glabrous, usually bearing branches in upper 2/3. Leaves greenish to glaucous, finely subcoriaceous, with prominent veins, glabrous, scabrid on margin. Number of basal leaves 6−12, lamina lanceolate to oblong in outline, 20‒46 × 4‒12 cm (excl. petiole), 1‒2 pinnate; 8−12 pairs of primer segments more or less lanceolate, 2‒6 × 1‒3 cm; ultimate segment ± ovate, 1.2‒2.2 × 0.6‒1.8 cm, with ovate-lanceolate lobes; petioles 6‒24 cm long, ± slender, slightly sheathed and canaliculated at base. Cauline leaves similar to basal leaves, reduced upwards, uppermost pinnatifid or with a few lobes, supporting inflorescence branches. Inflorescence paniculate to subcorymbose. Main umbel tight, 30‒70-rayed, rays 2‒5 cm long, scabrid; lateral umbels similar to main umbel, ± equal (12)20‒50-rayed, 1‒4 cm long. Bracts partly caducous, (6)10‒20, linear-filiform, 6‒18 × 0.3‒0.8 mm, scabrid. Umbellules tight, 5‒12 mm ⌀, 30‒54-flowered. Bracteoles 12‒18, 3‒7 × 0.2‒0.6 mm, linear, scabrid. Pedicels unequal, 1‒7 mm, outer pedicels longer than inner ones, sparsely scabrid. Calyx teeth triangular, about 0.6 mm long or rarely obsolete, scabrid. Petals white, strongly incurved at apex, minutely hairy on dorsal surface, about 0.8 mm long. Stylopodium depressed, with undulate margin. Styles c. 1 mm, horizontal to deflexed, glabrous. Ovary densely pubescent. Fruit oblong, greyish to brownish, terete, 2.5‒3.5 × 1.5‒2.0 mm, finely 5-ridged, pubescent. Number of commissural vittae four, dorsal vittae 12.
Paratypes: — TURKEY. C4 Konya: Cihanbeyli, between Gölyazı-Tuz Gölü, 9th kilometer, 923 m, salty marshes, 25 September 2011, A. Duran et al. 9327 (HUB!); ibid., 8 July 2013, A. Duran et al. 9689 (HUB!); ibid., 8 September 2013, A. Duran et al. 9856 (HUB!).
Etymology: —The specific epithet (salsugineus, − a, − um = from brackish places, growing on sites saturated with salt water) refers to the habitat of the new species on salt marshes of Lake Tuz Gölü. The Turkish name of the new species was suggested as “bataklık çakşırı” (Menemen et al. 2016).
Phenology: —Flowering in June and July; fruiting in August and September.
Distribution and ecology: — Seseli salsugineum is a narrow endemic species, confined to Lake Tuz Gölü area (Konya province) in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It belongs to the Irano-Turanian phytogeographic region (Fig. 1). Seseli salsugineum grows in salt marshes and salt steppes with such endemic species as Centaurea tuzgoluensis Aytaç & Duman in Vural et al. (2006: 256), Inula tuzgoluensis Öztürk & Çetin (2013: 827), Scorzonera tuzgoluensis Duran et al. in Doğan et al. (2011: 20), and Silene salsuginea Huber-Morath in Huber-Morath et al. (1967: 3). This fact highlights the importance of conservation of these salt marshes and salt steppes.
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list category: — Seseli salsugineum is known only from the type locality, an area smaller than 2.5 km 2 (Criteria B1). The area has been subjected to systematic overgraze. Groundwaters have shown extreme seasonal variation in recent years. Hence, their effect is leading to the reduction in the number of plants (Criteria A). The mature individuals of the population bear about 150 flowers (Criteria C2). Because of all these factors, the species is under threat. Therefore, it should be considered critically endangered (CR) according to the IUCN Red List Criteria (IUCN 2014).
description: Published as part of Duran, Ahmet, Samigullin, Tahir & Lyskov, Dmitry, 2021, Seseli salsugineum (Apiaceae), a new species from Central Anatolia, Turkey, pp. 27-42 in Phytotaxa 529 (1) on pages 35-39, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.529.1.2, http://zenodo.org/record/5814258