Nordic Journal of 26: 10Á20, 2008 doi: 10.1111/j.1756-1051.2008.00114.x, # The Authors. Journal compilation # Nordic Journal of Botany 2008 Subject Editor: Arne Strid. Accepted 11 January 2008

A key and four new of Hedysarum () in Iran

M. Ranjbar, R. Karamian, N. Olanj and M. R. Johartchi

M. Ranjbar ([email protected]), R. Karamian and N. Olanj, Dept of Biology, Herbarium division, Bu-Ali-Sina Univ., PO Box 65175/ 4161, Hamedan, Iran. Á M. R. Johartchi, Herbarium of Ferdowsi, Univ. of Mashhad, Iran.

A key, descriptions and new findings are given for some species from of the short-stemmed group Hedysarum sect. Multicaulia, which occur within the area covered by the flora of the north-eastern part of Iran (Khorassan Province). They have short stem, becoming woody at base, standard as long as keel and pods, glabrous or densely covered with grey appressed hairs. In addition, H. longepedunculatum, H. bojnordense, H. paucifoliolatum and H. glabrifoliolatum are described and illustrated as new species. The relationships between the new species and their closest relatives are discussed. Hedysarum fallacinum Rech. f. & Aellen is reduced to a synonym of H. kopetdaghi Boriss. on the basis of their common characters such as arrangement of branches and flowers, shape of leaflet and size of calyx and corolla.

Hedysarum L., a belonging to the tribe of H. maitlandianum, as new distinctive species based on Papilionoideae in the Fabaceae, comprises about 200 species several differences in morphology. occurring in cold mountainous regions of Europe, the Mediterranean region, North America, Asia and in parti- cular, the Middle East (Polhill 1981, Vassiljeva 1987, Material and methods Yakovlev et al. 1996). Members of the genus are perennial herbs, rarely semishrubs, and occur in various habitats such The main objective of this study is to revise one group of as alpine and arctic meadows, grasslands, deserts and Iranian species belonging to sect. Multicaulia. The study is seashores (Choi and Ohashi 2003). Fedtschenko (1902) mainly based on herbarium material. Several sheets have classified Hedysarum into seven sections. His classification been examined for each species from the following herbaria: was adopted in subsequent works (Fedtschenko 1948, W, WU, TARI, herbarium of Ferdowsi, Univ. of Mashhad Chrtkova´ 1968). Rechinger (1984) placed 16 species under (FUMH), herbarium of Esfahan Univ., Bu-Ali-Sina Univ. three sections, namely Multicaulia, Subacaulia and Crinifera. herbarium (BASU), herbarium Res. Centre of Nat. Res. The flora of Iran is relatively rich in Hedysarum species. and Animal Affairs of Mashhad, Esfahan, Shiraz, Kerman In the ‘Flora Iranica’, 25 species, of which 15 are endemic and Zahedan. Moreover, during several excursions in Iran, to Iran, have been treated (Rechinger 1984, Ranjbar et al. some of the species were studied in the field by the authors 2004, 2006, 2007). The species in this genus in Iran are not and deposited at FUMH and Bu-Ali-Sina Univ. herbaria. readily distinguishable in any available key because of the great variability of many species. In preparing the treatment of Hedysarum L. for the Persian version of the Flora of Iran, Key to the species of the short-stemmed some new species could be recognized as good species. In group of Hedysarum sect. Multicaulia in addition, we have solved many taxonomic difficulties in the north-eastern Iran section and introduced some new species from the genera and Hedysarum in this region (Ranjbar et al. 1. Calyx longer than 10 mm, peduncles 20Á28 cm 2004, 2006). long...... H. longepedunculatum In this paper four new taxa, Hedysarum paucifoliolatum, Calyx shorter than 10 mm, peduncles not exceeding H. glabrifoliolatum, H. longepedunculatum and H. bojnor- 15 cm ...... 2 dense, are introduced for the flora of Iran and compared 2. Leaflets in 1Á2 pairs, peduncles 7Á13 cm long ...... 3 with closely related species. Investigations on living material Leaflets in 5Á8 pairs...... 4 and herbarium specimens, allow us to treat four new 3. completely glabrous...... H. glabrifoliolatum populations occurring in the northern Khorassan moun- Plant densely covered with short appressed hairs (apart tains, which are closely related to H. kopetdaghi and from legumes)...... H. paucifoliolatum

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