Heracleum kurdicum Firat 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Firat, Mehmet
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Apiales
Apiaceae
Heracleum
Heracleum kurdicum

description: Heracleum kurdicum Fırat, sp. nov.
(Figs 2-10)
TYPE MATERIAL. — Turkey • C9 Hakkari, Bala plateau; 37°32’08”N, 43°56’39”E; dry and slightly moist meadows; 2747 m a.s.l.; 20.VII.2013; M. FIrat 30271; holo-, VANF!; iso-, VHLV! and Herb. M. Fırat!).
DIAGNOSIS. — Heracleum kurdicum Fırat, sp. nov. resembles Heracleum rawianum C.C. Towns., but it clearly differs by its stem, 60- 100 cm tall (not 6-35 cm); basal leaves oblong to elliptic in outline 20-55 × 6-17 cm (not oblong in outline, 4-9[-20] cm long); rays number and length 7-14, 5-16 cm (not 2-5, 1.5-4.5 cm long); flowers 18-30 in each umbellule (not 8-12).
PHENOLOGY. — Flowering from June to July, fruiting from July to August.
ETYMOLOGY. — This plant species is named after the Kurdish people who have inhabited this region (Kurdistan) since the earliest times of history.
DISTRIBUTION. — Heracleum kurdicum Fırat, sp. nov. is endemic to east Anatolia (Hakkari), Turkey. It is an element of the Irano-Turanian floristic region (Fig. 1).
VERNACULAR NAME. — Heracleum kurdicum Fırat, sp. nov. is called “Suha piltanî” in Kurdish by the local people of Hakkari province, but Heracleum species are known by the local people under many names in Kurdish, e.g. “Giyajehrik”, “Helerg”, “Lerg”, “So”, “Soy”, “Şabilxan”, “Zirgêjnok”, “Kilir”, “Salêw”, “Gulper”, “Sulan”, “Telkxaş” (Fırat 2013).
HABITAT AND ECOLOGY. — Heracleum kurdicum Fırat, sp. nov. grows in dry and slightly moist meadows areas (Fig. 1B), at c. 2700-2800 m elevation, with other interesting plants such as, Eryngium bornmuelleri Nab., C haerophyllum macrospermum (Sprengel) Fisch. & Mey, Silene vulgaris (Moench) Garcke var. commutata (Guss.) Coode & Cullen, Crepis hakkarica Lamond, Trifolium sp., Rumex ponticus E. H. L. Krause, Campanula persica A. DC.
IUCN RED LIST ASSESSMENT. — The distribution area of Heracleum kurdicum Fırat, sp. nov. is less than 10 km ². The species is known from one locality, in which c. 1000 individuals were counted. Some anthropogenic or grazing effects were observed on the population. Based on the above data, the IUCN (2017) red list category for Heracleum kurdicum Fırat, sp. nov. is suggested as “Critically Endangered”.
PARATYPES. — Turkey • C9 Hakkari, Bala plateau; 37°32’08”N, 43°56’39”E; dry and slightly moist meadows; 2747 m a.s.l.; 17.VII.2004; M. FIrat 7165; HUB! and Herb. M. Fırat! • ibid.; 24.VII.2011; M. FIrat 27200; HUB! and Herb. M. Fırat! • ibid.; 29.VII.2012; M. FIrat 28879; Herb. M. Fırat! • ibid.; 11.VII.2014; M. FIrat 31181; VHLV! and Herb. M. Fırat! • ibid.; 8.VII.2018; M. FIrat 34046; VHLV! and Herb. M. Fırat! • ibid.; 23.VII.2022; İ. Genç, G. Ecevit-Genç & M. FIrat 36155; VANF! and Herb. M. Fırat! • ibid.; 11.VIII.2023; M. FIrat 40103; ANK and Herb. M. Fırat!
ADDITIONAL SPECIMENS EXAMINED. — Heracleum pastinacifolium subsp. pastinacifolium: Turkey • B9 Van, Başkale district, Mor Mountains; dry and slightly moist meadows; 2435 m a.s.l.; 30.VII.2014; M. FIrat 30333; Herb. M. Fırat!
Heracleum rawianum: Turkey • B9 Van, Bahçesaray, Kavuşşahap Mountains, rocky slopes; 3200 m a.s.l.; 19.VIII.2004; M. FIrat 7903; Herb. M. Fırat! • ibid.; 23.VII.2022; İ. Genç & G. Ecevit-Genç M. FIrat 36159; Herb. M. Fırat! • B9 Van, Çatak, Kavuşşahap Mountains, rocky slopes; 3300 m a.s.l.; 10.VIII.2013; M. FIrat 30333; Herb. M. Fırat!; • ibid.; 15.VIII.2023; M. FIrat 40121; Herb. M. Fırat!
DESCRIPTION
Perennial, tap-rooted. Stem 60-100 cm tall, erect, branched from middle and upper part, striate or grooved, slender, 2-7 mm in diameter at base, pubescent below, becoming sparsely pubescent to glabrous above. Basal leaves oblong to elliptic in outline, 20-55 × 6-17 cm (incl. petioles), 1-pinnate with 2-5 pairs of leaflets petiolulate or sessile, terminal segments ovate to orbicular, 3-9 × 2-8 cm, crenate-dentate at margin, minutely hairy on both sides. Petioles 5-9 cm, with a 1-2 cm sheath in basal leaves and a longer (2-3 cm) sheath in lower and middle cauline leaves. Cauline leaves similar to basal leaves, reduced to flowering part; lower and middle cauline leaves 1-pinnate, 10- 28 × 3-9 cm, leaflets mostly sessile. Upper cauline leaves few, almost reduced to a 1-3 cm sheath. Synflorescence composed of long-pedunculate compound umbels with unequal, sparsely hairy, 5-16 cm long, 7-14 rays. Bracts absent or 1, 5-10 × 0.5-1.5 mm, linear-lanceolate, sparsely hairy. Flowers 18-30 in each umbellule, polygamous, with 5-16 mm long, unequal, hairy pedicels. Bracteoles 7-9, linear to subulate, unequal 1-5 mm long, sparsely hairy. Sepals obsolete or minute. Petals white, glabrous, outer petal strongly radiant; radiant petals ovate, c. 5 mm long, deeply bilobed, lobes ±incurved at apex; other petals ovate, c. 2 mm long, shallowly bilobed, incurved at apex. Ovary pubescent. Mericarp 9-12 × 6-9 mm, elliptic to obovate, strongly dorsally compressed, pubescent; Stylopodium short conical with ±undulate margin; styles 1.5-2 mm long, slender, deflexed; stigma capitate; Vittae subequal, the two inner slightly longer and attaining about 1/ 2 -1/ 3 the length of the fruit on the dorsal surface, dorsal vittae 4, commissural vittae 2 or 1, vittae not reaching the ends of the fruit.
CARPOLOGICAL CHARACTERS
The exocarp was covered with cuticle and consisted of a single row of epidermal cells. Different sized parenchymal cells made up the mesocarp. Three to four rows of sclerenchymatous cells made up the endocarp. Different sized parenchymal cells made up the margins. The wings stretched perpendicular to the fruit's axis and were made up of eight to ten rows of sclerenchymatous cells. Each mericarp had four dorsal vittae, which were made up of a single row of parenchymal cells. The same as dorsal vittae, 2 or 1 commissural vittae in fruit. There were three vascular bundles that connected the dorsal vittae. The fruit axis was parallel to the extension of the sclerenchymatous cells. The raphes are consisted of sclerenchymatous cells (Fig. 8).
description: Published as part of Firat, Mehmet, 2024, Heracleum kurdicum sp. nov. (Apiaceae), a new species from Hakkari (Turkey), pp. 223-237 in Adansonia (3) (3) 46 (21) on page 226, DOI: 10.5252/adansonia2024v46a21, http://zenodo.org/record/14534450