Skvortsovia: 1(2): 149 – 168 (2014) Skvortsovia ISSN 2309-6497 (Print) Copyright: © 2014 Russian Academy of Sciences http://skvortsovia.uran.ru/ ISSN 2309-6500 (Online) Article Cephalopodum badachschanicum, Semenovia vachanica and other Umbelliferae (Apiaceae) novelties of Afghan flora from Badakhshan Province, with notes on some species of the Pamirs. Mikhail G. Pimenov*, Evgeniy V. Kljuykov and Uliana A. Ukrainskaja Botanical Garden, Moscow State University, bldg. 34, Vorobjevy Gory, Moscow 119234, Russia *Corresponding author. Email:
[email protected] Received: 28 November 2013 | Accepted by: Rafaël H.A. Govaerts: 26 March 2014 | Published on line: 30 April 2014 Abstract We report here on some Umbelliferae taxa that have been collected for the first time in the area of Afghan Badakhshan that borders Tajikistan. They include Cephalopodum badachschanicum, Elaeosticta hirtula, Heracleum lehmannianum, Semenovia imbricata, and Semenovia vachanica. The distribution of Ferula gigantea in Afghan Badakhshan was confirmed by a herbarium collection. Following comparative studies of plants from Tajik and Afghan Badakhshan the nomenclature of Angelica komarovii, Conioselinum tataricum and Pseudotrachydium dichotomum, as given in Rechinger’s ‘Flora Iranica,’ was revised. In total, 21 species of the Umbelliferae are critically analyzed. Keywords: Afghanistan, Badakhshan, Cephalopodum, Elaeosticta, Ferula, Heracleum, Semenovia, Umbelliferae Introduction The narrow gorge of the Pyandj River cuts the territory of Badakhshan into Tajik and Afghan parts. In the 1870s it was suggested that the gorge be considered as the frontier between areas of British and Russian interests. The valley later became the USSR-Afghanistan and finally the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border. Botanical investigations in both parts of this unique territory have been carried out independently and, as a result, there are some inexplicable differences between plant lists of Tajik and Afghan Badakhshan, including those on Umbelliferae distribution.