A Preliminary Taxonomic Study on the Flora of Rangpur District, Bangladesh

This study demonstrates that the vascular flora of the Rangpur district area consists of 825 species under 537 genera and 139 families. The pteridophytes and gymnosperms are represented by 25 and seven species, respectively, whereas the angiosperms by 793 species including 582 species of dicotyledons (Magnoliopsida) and 211 species of monocotyledons (Liliopsida). Poaceae with 67 species, representing 8.12% of the flora, is appeared as the largest family, and followed by Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Araceae, Malvaceae and Euphorbiaceae that collectively constitute 17.94% of this flora. Persicaria comprising 10 species is recorded as the largest genus, and followed by Ficus, Euphorbia, Solanum, Albizia and Brassica. About 59.71% taxa of this flora are herbs, 21.71% trees, 14.72% shrubs and the rest are palms, lianas, and bamboos. Erect herbs forming 35.22% of the flora comprise the most common life-form. In this flora, almost 64.29% taxa are native and the rest 35.71% are exotic. Nearly 62.61% taxa of the flora are found in wild, 26.90% as planted and 10.49% as cultivated. About 35.46% of the species commonly occur throughout all upazilas of this district. Most of the species are harboured in fallow lands, roadsides, gardens, and homesteads. All species of this district flora are known as economically useful. Most of its habitats and ecosystems are exposed to different threats. Adequate measures with effective management plans should be adopted and implemented for the sustainable use, improvement and conservation of this precious flora. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 329-365, 2021 (December)

New Records of Some Euglenoid Algae From Bangladesh

The following taxa belong to eight species under five genera of euglenoid algae, namely, Euglena anabaena Mainx., Phacus glaber Pochmann (Defl.) Posch, Phacus indicus Skvortzov, Protaspis obovata Skuja, Strombomonas lanceolata (Playfair) Deflandre, Trachelomonas hexangulata (Swir) Playf., T. obovata var. klebsiana Defl. and T. pseudocaudata Defl. are described here for the first time for Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 311-315, 2021 (December)

Vegetative and Leaf Anatomical Traits for Taxonomic Delimitation of Salacia L. In Sri Lanka

Salacia comprises 200 species throughout the tropical countries. In Sri Lanka, five species of this genus S. chinensis, S. diandra, S. oblonga, S. reticulata and S. acuminatissima are recorded that are considered as the synonyms under S. diandra by Wadhwa in 1996 during the revision of genus. These species are very much similar in vegetative morphology and their flowering is irregular and rare. Due to these reasons, their proper identification and determination are difficult and identification of new combinations of taxonomic characters is necessary. A multivariate analysis was conducted for 98 distinct populations using 20 vegetative and 43 leaf anatomical characters including PCA, PCO, CA, SIMPER and correlation analysis. The results support the recognition of four phenetic groups, which corresponds to species S. chinensis, S. reticulata, S. oblonga and S. diandra. S. acuminatissima that was recognized by Kostermans (1992) was not supported by the analysis and formed a cluster together with S. diandra with no support as a separate cluster. The study failed to recognize any distinct vegetative characters to define these taxa but propose a combination of vegetative or leaf anatomical characters and also highlights the necessity of molecular data to supplement the vegetative and leaf anatomical data to resolve the ambiguity between the S. acuminatissima and S. diandra. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 429-439, 2021 (December)

Species Relationship and Population Differentiation In Stellaria L. (Caryophyllaceae) Of Iran Using Scot Molecular Marker and Morphological Data

Recognition of species is essential in a variety of domains, most remarkably biology, biogeography, ecology, as well as conservation. The genus Stellaria L. (Caryophyllaceae) has over 120 species spread across Europe and Asia's temperate zones. According to the most remarkable current treatments, nine species recognize Stellaria in Iran. These species are categorized into two types. Despite the broad distribution of several Stellaria species in Iran, no research on their genetic variability, method of divergence, or dispersion trends is accessible. As a result, we conducted genetic and morphological research on six Stellaria species and two of their closest relatives gathered from various habitats in Iran. This research aims to 1) Can SCoT markers be utilized to recognize Stellaria species? 2) What are the genetic characteristics of the mentioned taxa in Iran? and 3) To examine the interrelation of the species. In this research, ten SCoT markers were employed for molecular analysis, and 112 accessions were utilized for morphological study. The genetic distances were calculated using the Jaccard similarity coefficient, and descriptive data on the populations were used to estimate genetic parameters. There were 98 polymorphic bands all over. The integration of morphological and SCoT data demonstrated that the Stellaria species of Iran could be delimited and recognized. The Stellaria species are genetically unique; however, they share some similar alleles, according to AMOVA and STRUCTURE analyses. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 317-328, 2021 (December)

Seed Macro- And Micro-Morphology of Some Species Of Kickxia Dumort, Scrophularia L. And Plantago L. From Saudi Arabia

The seed macro- and micro-morphological characters of 13 species belonging to three genera; Kickxia Dumort, Scrophularia L. and Plantago L., collected from different localities of Saudi Arabia, were studied using a Stereomicroscope and Scanning Electron Microscope for evaluating their taxonomic relationships. Three macro-morphological characters of seeds were shape, size, and color while three diagnostic micromorphological characters were seed coat sculpture, the anticlinal and periclinal wall., The seed shape seems to be specific in Plantago L. (peltate, angled) than the two other genera while the color and seed size show little importance. The Plantago L. has a specific rugose sculpture while the other two genera have either tuberculate or alveolate. So Plantago L. was possessed no affinities to Kickxia Dumor or Scrophularia L.. This observation gives extra support to the earlier taxonomic views that suggested the retention of two genera in the traditional family Scrophulariaceae and maintaining Plantago L. in a separate monogeneric family Plantaginaceae Detailed analysis of seed characters of more species is needed to clarify the systematic relationships between the three genera. A key to the identification of studied species based on seed micro- and macro-morphological characters is provide. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 385-393, 2021 (December)

Pollen Morphological Investigations of Salvia L. In Southeastern of Turkey and Its Taxonomic Implication

In this study, the pollen morphology and exine structure of nine species of the genus Salvia L. (Lamiaceae) were investigated using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Six micromorphological characters (pollen shape, polar length, equatorial width, exine and intine thickness, colpus length and colpus width) of pollen grains of Salvia have been identified. The palynological observations revealed that pollen grains of most studied taxa of Salvia were suboblate shape and possess hekzacolpate aperture. Tectal surface sculpture was a good criterion to identify particular taxa from Salvia. The pollen of which is characterized by reticulate, the pollen ornamentation was similar in all studied taxa. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 395-403, 2021 (December)

Humaria Laevispora, a New Cryptic Species of Pezizales (Pyronemataceae, Ascomycetes) Based On Morphoanatomical and Phylogenetic Analysis From Pakistan

In order to explore the biodiversity of mushrooms from Pakistan, authors come across a new Humaria sp. associated with Pinus wallichiana from Pakistan’s part of Himalayan moist temperate forests. Morpho-anatomical and phylogenetic characterization were used to elucidate their taxonomic affinities. Morphological and phylogenetic analysis confirms that it is a new species of Humaria. Humaria laevispora is subsequently described in detail and compared to closely related taxa Humaria hemisphaerica. The analysis also reveals that epigeous Humaria sp. is sister to hypogeous Genea spp. reflecting epigeous habit in Humaria a derived condition. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 379-384, 2021 (December)

Stem Anatomical Descriptors of Four Sesbania Scop. Species And Their Systematic Implication

Stem anatomical features of four Sesbania Scop. species viz. S. bispinosa (Jacq.) W. Wight, S. cannabina (Retz.) Poir., S. sesban (L.) Merr., and S. rostrata Bremek. & Oberm., were examined to add some insights for identification of these species using quantitative anatomical descriptors. Sesbania stem is composed of epidermis, cortex, vascular tissues – phloem, cambium zone and xylem, and pith, which exhibit significant variations among the species in terms of their area and thickness. Sesbania sesban showed the largest area and widest epidermal cells. The close relationship between S. bispinosa and S. rostrata was found in the stem anatomical descriptors. Moreover, S. rostrata and S. cannabina were closer to some extent according to some anatomical descriptors; also rationalizing the external morphological similarities of these species. A dichotomous key of the studied Sesbania species was made. Dendrograms based on Agglomerative Hierarchical Cluster analysis of stem anatomical descriptors also confirmed close relationships identified in previous phylogenetic analyses. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 441-449, 2021 (December)

First Record of Scytinopogon Angulisporus (Pat.) Corner From Bangladesh

not available Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 459-463, 2021 (December)

A New Variety of Abrus Precatorius L. (Fabaceae) From Bangladesh

A new variety Abrus precatorius L. var. albo-spermum Hassan, Rahman et Afroz, var. nov. is described and illustrated from Bangladesh. The new variety is closest to Abrus preactorius L., but differs by its white coloured oval shaped seeds, short gynoecium which is half the length of longer filaments and with a short style. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 28(2): 289-294, 2021 (December)