What is Astragalus wiesneri? Disentangling a new species from its relatives in section Anthylloidei

Here, we describe and illustrate a new alpine species of Astragalus sect. Anthylloidei from Iran. Astragalus wiesneri sp. nov., an interesting and rare species, is only known from the type locality in the Bul Mountain (near Eghlid city) in the southern Zagros Mountains. The new species is compared with close relatives, including A. nigrohirsutus and A. lalesarensis, which are also endemic to Iran. In addition, we assembled a dataset of nrDNA ITS sequences of 21 species (22 accessions) representing A. sect. Anthylloidei and ten species of other related spiny-cushion forming sections. Maximum likelihood methods and Bayesian Inference retrieved A. wiesneri sister to A. nigrohirsutus, a species growing in the same area as the new species. The description of A. wiesneri is presented along with a distribution map, some ecological information, field images, conservation status, and pertinent notes.

Two New Species and a New Record of Astragalus sect. Ammodendron (Fabaceae) from Northeastern Iran

Following study of specimens belonging to Astragalus L. sect. Ammodendron Bunge collected from northeastern Iran, two new species and a new record for Iran are described and reported. Astragalus ayatollahii Nasseh, Joharchi & F. Ghahrem. differs from A. biarjmandicus Podlech & Zarre and A. inchebroonensis Maassoumi in having longer racemes with more flowers, only white trichomes on the calyx, and one pair of leaflets in the lower leaves and two pairs in the upper leaves. Astragalus gonabadensis Nasseh, Joharchi & F. Ghahrem. differs from A. baharensis F. Ghahrem. and A. macrobotrys Bunge in characters of the calyx and legume trichomes. Descriptions, distribution maps, and comparative tables of morphological characteristics for these taxa are presented. In addition, the first record of A. excedens Popov & Kult. in the flora of Iran is reported.

Review of the genus Astragalus section Helmia (Fabaceae)

A taxonomic review of species and intraspecific taxa of the Astragalus L. section Helmia Bunge is presented. We treat the section Helmia in a traditional, narrow scope, including only 9 species and subspecies: A. helmii Fisch. ex DC., A. tergeminus (Knjaz., Kulikov et E. G. Philippov) Knjaz., A. permiensis C. A. Mey. ex Rupr., A. depauperatus Ledeb. (= A. chakassiensis Polozhij), A. kasachstanicus Golosk. subsp. kasachstanicus, A. kasachstanicus subsp. coloratus Knjaz., A. gregorii B. Fedtsch. et Basil. (= A. tuvinicus Timokhina), A. heptapotamicus Sumnev., A. ionae Palib. ex Gontsch. et Popov. With regard to the other 16 species of sect. Helmia in its widest sense, as accepted in the monograph by D. Podlech and Sh. Zarre (2013), we believe it more correct to attribute them to other sections. The rank of A. helmii var. tergeminus Knjaz., Kulikov et E. G. Philippov is raised to the species, A. tergeminus (Knjaz., Kulikov et E. G. Philippov) Knjaz. It is shown that A. gregorii is a priority name of A. tuvinicus. The epitype of A. permiensis C. A. Mey. ex Rupr. is designated. An identification key and a map of distribution for all species and subspecies of Astragalus sect. Helmia are presented.

Molecular systematics of some bifurcate hairy sections in Astragalus L. (Fabaceae) as inferred from nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequences

In this study, 38 species belonging to some bifurcate hairy sections of Astragalus L. were analyzed phylogenetically, using nuclear and plastid DNA sequences. Based on our results, Astragalus sect. Dissitiflori DC. with the inclusion of the members of section Erioceras Bunge, formed a monophyletic group. The members of sect. Ornithopodium Bunge and Onobrychoidei DC. were located together within a highly supported monophyletic clade, apart from other sections studied, on the basis of the present molecular data.The positioning of the enigmatic, recently established species, A. juladakensis Maassoumi, within the sect. Dissitiflori was verified. In addition, our results showed that A. pravitzii Podl., which had been already transferred to sect. Ornithopodium, belongs to the section Dissitiflori.Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 23(2): 223-235, 2016 (December)

A seed micromorphology study of Astragalus sect. Caprini (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae) from NE Iran

Seed micromorphology of 14 species of the Astragalus sect. Caprini from Khorasan Razavi Province (NE Iran) was studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy. Three main seed shapes, ovoid, mitiform and reniform, and four types of seed coat ornamentation, rugulate, reticulate–rugulate, velate and velate–foveolate were found. Seed micromorphology of the studied specimens was found to be variable between species. An identification key is presented based on seed coat characters.