African Mountain Thistles: Three New Genera in the Carduus-Cirsium Group

The floras on the highest mountains in tropical eastern Africa are among the most unique floras in the world. Despite the exceptionally high concentration of endemic species, these floras remain understudied from an evolutionary point of view. In this study, we focus on the Carduus-Cirsium group (subtribe Carduinae) to unravel the evolutionary relationships of the species endemic to the tropical Afromontane and Afroalpine floras, aiming to improve the systematics of the group. We applied the Hyb-Seq approach using the Compositae1061 probe set on 190 samples (159 species), encompassing representatives of all genera of Carduinae. We used two recently developed pipelines that enabled the processing of raw sequence reads, identification of paralogous sequences and segregation into orthologous alignments. After the implementation of a missing data filter, we retained sequences from 986 nuclear loci and 177 plastid regions. Phylogenomic analyses were conducted using both concatenated and summary-coalescence methods. The resulting phylogenies were highly resolved and revealed three distinct evolutionary lineages consisting of the African species traditionally referred to as Carduus and Cirsium. Consequently, we propose the three new genera Afrocarduus, Afrocirsium and Nuriaea; the latter did notably not belong to the Carduus-Cirsium group. We detected some incongruences between the phylogenies based on concatenation vs. coalescence and on nuclear vs. plastid datasets, likely attributable to incomplete lineage sorting and/or hybridization

A palynological study of the genus Nepeta L. (Lamiaceae)

The pollen morphology of forty taxa of the genus Nepeta L. was studied and documented in detail using light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron (SEM) microscopy in this study. Nepeta L. pollen grains are small to large (P = 18.64-63.46 mu m, E = 15.62-46.33 mu m), suboblate to perprolate (P/E = 0.86-2.09) in shape and hexacolpate (very rarely tetracolpate) with granular membranes. Alternate position of colpi occurs in six Nepeta taxa, N. nuda ssp. glandulifera, N. concolor, N. crinita, N. congesta var. cryptantha, N. stricta var. stricta and N. sibthorpii ssp. tumeniana. In examinations of exine ornamentation with SEM, two types of pollen grains were recognized: (1) type I, with microreticulate sculpture; and (2) type II with bireticulate sculpture, type I and II to be divided into two and five subtypes, respectively. In the two taxa with microreticulate pattern, N. pilinux and N. sulfuriflora, a tendency towards a bireticulum could be recognized due to traces of secondary tectal connections. The bireticulate exine ornamentation is characterized with varying characteristics of the primary muri and secondary reticulum. Pollen morphology within the genus is compared with infrageneric relationships

A new species of Micromeria (Lamiaceae) from Koycegiz (Mugla, southwest of Turkey)

A new species, Micromeria aybalae H. Duman \& Dirmenci (Lamiaceae), Micromeria Benth. sect. Micromeria, is described from Mugla Province in southwestern Turkey. A description, taxonomic note, distribution map, habitat, and nrDNA ITS and cpDNA trnL-F based phylogeny are presented. The differences between the new species and its allies, Micromeria cremnophila Boiss. \& Heldr. s.l. and M. hispida Benth., are discussed, and an identification key is provided for the Turkish Micromeria

Morphological character analysis in Turkish Micromeria Benth. (Lamiaceae) species with a numerical taxonomic study

As an initial part of a revisional study based on the genus Micromeria Benth. (Lamiaceae), extensive field studies, herbarium and literature surveys, and multivariate analysis have been conducted. Recently, many morphological and molecular studies have been conducted on the genus Micromeria and related genera. Consequently, the generic boundaries of Micromeria have dramatically changed. Therefore, a morphometric analysis was carried out on Turkish Micromeria s.l. species, belonging to sect. Micromeria, sect. Cymularia Boiss., and sect. Pseudomelissa Benth., 2 Clinopodium L. species, and 2 Mentha L. species in order to understand their taxonomic relationship. For morphometric analysis, 27 morphological characters and their states were investigated by means of MVSP software. Our results supported previous molecular studies. The members of the sect. Pseudomelissa should be transferred to the genus Clinopodium. Turkish Micromeria species are now represented by 8 species belonging to sect. Micromeria and sect. Cymularia. In addition, the taxonomic position of Micromeria cymuligera Boiss. & Hausskn. (sect. Cymularia) is discussed. The most important diagnostic characters of the Micromeria species such as leaf and calyx are illustrated

Nutlet and leaf micromorphology in some Turkish species of Teucrium L. (Lamiaceae)

Nutlet and leaves micromorphology of 27 Teucrium taxa were examined using SEM. The significant variation was found on the nutlet surface ornamentation and indumentum and this is mainly useful at the sectional level. Besides, trichome micromorphology is crucial to distinguish of some species inside some sections. The epidermal features of the nutlets which are specific to each section were determined. There are eglandular and glandular trichomes on the leaves and the nutlets. The glandular trichomes have two types: clavate and subsessile. The clavate glandular trichomes consist of short and long clavate. The eglandular trichomes have two types: simple unbranched and simple branched trichomes. The simple unbranched trichomes are classified as thin-walled and thick walled. The indumentum type has high taxonomical value among the species. Furthermore, leaf and nutlet micromorphological features of T. chamaedrys subsp. lydium, T. chamaedrys subsp. tauricola, T. chamaedrys subsp. sinuatum, T. divaricatum subsp. graecum, T. flavum subsp. hellenicum, T. leucophyllum have been comparatively presented for the first time. The leaf features of T. aladagense, T. chamaedrys subsp. trapezunticum and nutlet features of T. divaricatum subsp. divaricatum are also reported in detail for the first time

Nutlet and leaf micromorphology in some Turkish species of Teucrium L. (Lamiaceae)

Nutlet and leaves micromorphology of 27 Teucrium taxa were examined using SEM. The significant variation was found on the nutlet surface ornamentation and indumentum and this is mainly useful at the sectional level. Besides, trichome micromorphology is crucial to distinguish of some species inside some sections. The epidermal features of the nutlets which are specific to each section were determined. There are eglandular and glandular trichomes on the leaves and the nutlets. The glandular trichomes have two types: clavate and subsessile. The clavate glandular trichomes consist of short and long clavate. The eglandular trichomes have two types: simple unbranched and simple branched trichomes. The simple unbranched trichomes are classified as thin-walled and thick walled. The indumentum type has high taxonomical value among the species. Furthermore, leaf and nutlet micromorphological features of T. chamaedrys subsp. lydium, T. chamaedrys subsp. tauricola, T. chamaedrys subsp. sinuatum, T. divaricatum subsp. graecum, T. flavum subsp. hellenicum, T. leucophyllum have been comparatively presented for the first time. The leaf features of T. aladagense, T. chamaedrys subsp. trapezunticum and nutlet features of T. divaricatum subsp. divaricatum are also reported in detail for the first time

Cirsium sivasicum sp. nov. and C. peshmenianum sp. nov. (Asteraceae) and their allies from Turkey

Two new species of Cirsium Mill. from east Anatolia (Turkey): C. sivasicum Yildiz, Arabaci & Dirmenci and C. peshmenianum Yildiz, Dirmenci & Arabaci, are described and illustrated. Both new species belong to C. sect. Epitrachys DC. (Asteraceae: Cardueae) and are closely related to C. rigidum DC., C. leuconeurum Boiss. & Hausskn. and C. karduchorum Petr. The differences between the new species and their allies are discussed and a diagnostic key is provided. A detailed description of a previously poorly known species, C. leuconeurum, is also provided. The pollen grain morphology of the new species and their allies were investigated with light and scanning electron microscopes. Based on the shape of the spines and the surface ornamentation, the pollen grains of the species were divided into 3 types: C. rigidum and C. sivasicum (type I), C. leuconeurum and C. pesmenianum (type II), C. karduchorum (type III).Avrupa Komiyonu (AT-TAF58)Avrupa Komiyonu (GB-TAF3087