The Iranian Journal of Botany
Volume:14 Issue: 1, Winter and Spring 2008

Among the rich materials of the genus Salix collected from different localities of Iran and also based on the identification of unknown herbarium specimens in TARI, two new species namely Salix baladehensis and S. issatissensis are described. S. baladehensis is close to S. aegyptiaca but with shorter male catkin up to 2 cm and sparsely hairy bracts. S. issatissensis is an affinity of S. excelsa formerly described as S. excelsa var, rodonii. S. denticulata and S. fedtschenkoi are respectively recorded from Khorassan and Semnan provinces as new to Iran.

A new species of Lathyrus L. is described from Alamut, Kuhe Siahlan in Ghazvin province. The new species is named Lathyrus alamutensis which is a perennial plant with woody rootstock, many stems and pale red to purple flowers in living state and whitish in dried state. It belongs to Lathyrus sect. Platystylis (Sweet) Bassler. The new species is very characteristic with two flap-like appendages above the claw of standard.

For the preparation of Flora of Iran Caryophyllaceae: Paronychioideae, the herbarium specimens in the herbarium of Research Institute of Forests and Ranglands (TARI) were identified. Among them a specimen that has been collected from Lordegan, Chahar Mahale Bakhtiari is named P. lordeganica and described as a new species from Iran. This species is compared with P. caespitosa Stapf from Iran and P. boissieri Rouy and P. mesopotamica Chaudhri from the other countries as the closest relatives.

Aeluropus peterganicus is described and illustrated as a new species from North East of Iran. This species is well characterized by the following characters: dense indumentum, compact inflorescence. Taxonomical characters and illustration of the new species are given. This species seems to be related to Ae. macrostachys which is compared with. In the new species leaves are shorter and densely hairy on the back side of lamina and sheath, inflorescence rather dense and compact, glumes, lema, palea and anthers shorter. In Ae. lagopoides vegetative part is mainly glabrous, inflorescence loose and flower parts are smaller.

Linaria boushehrensis (Scrophulariaceae) is described as a new species from Boushehr and Khuzestan provinces. This species belongs to the section Difusae. The new species is compared with its closest relative Linaria albifrons. Linaria boushehrensis differs from L. albifrons in having longer bracts, corolla and spur and also smaller capsules and different microsculpturing pattern of the seed and capsule surfaces.

In this study, fourteen species of Glaucium Mill. were studied and morphological and micro-macromorphological characters were evaluated. The understudied species assessed by biometric study, and about 28 qualitative and 37 quantitative characters were assessed. Phenetic analysis was carried out using SPSS software, and phenograms of these species were prepared. Furthermore, PCA analysis was carried out and the most variable characters were determined. Finally, the seeds and pollen grains of these species were also investigated using S.E.M electronic microscope, and the tables of characters were formed individually for them. Afterward, phenetic analysis and phenogram preparation were done based on morphological characters of seeds and pollen of the species, and the following results were obtained:1. Distinction of G. leiocarpum Boiss., as a distinct species from G. oxylobum Boiss. & Buhse in contrary to what mentioned in Flora Iranica. 2. Synonymy of G. oxylobum subsp. rechingeri Mory, with the type variety. 3. Synonymy of G. haussknechtii Bornm. & Fedde. with G. grandiflorum Boiss. & Huet. 4. Introduction of a new species named G. golestanicum Gran & Sharifnia. 5. Preparation of the table of characters for pollen and seeds of all taxa.

Original chromosome observations are presented for 34 species in 21 families of Angiosperms from Iran. Of these, the chromosome numbers, for 5 taxa including Papver fugax (Papaveraceae) n=7, Ceratocephala testiculatus (Ranunculaceae) n=14, Ziziphus spina-christi (Rhamnaceae) 2n=96, Rubia florida (Rubiaceae) n=22, Daphne angustifolia (Thymeleaceae) n=9 are new observations. Also, chromosome counts for 15 taxa are new for the flora of Iran.

Chromosome numbers of 15 species of Plantago L. of Iran were investigated. They include first counts for 2 taxa: P. stocksii Boiss. (2n=10) and P. loeflingii L. (2n=24), as well as 3 new chromosome numbers for 3 taxa: P. albicans Boiss. (2n=8 & 10), P. coronopus L. subsp. commutata Pilger. (2n=10) and P. coronopus subsp. coronopus Pilger (2n=20). Diploid chromosome numbers of the taxa investigated varied between 2n=8 and 2n=24. Our results are compared with previous records.

Altogether 28 species of Artemisia were used in anatomical studies in order to introduce the most important anatomical features of them and their possible taxonomic applications. According to leaf sections, three groups are detectable which differ in their midrib shape, its position in relation to lamina and length and number of veins in each lamina half, which is in agreement with leaf morphology, in addition hygrophyte and xerophyte species are distinguishable. Using anatomical characters one can put some species in complexes which are close to each other in morphological features. Species of complexes of A. aucheri, A. sieberi and A. kopetdaghensis have common features which support the close relationship of them.

About 600 Km. coastal lines of the Gulf of Oman occur in southeast of Iran. The Rhodophyta of intertidal regions of Chabahar area (25º 10 ' to 25º 21' N / 59º 52 ' to 61º 31' E) were studied from 1999 to 2003. Samples of algae were collected from 8 sites including Gavater, Beris, Ramin, Kachu, Chabhar, Pozm, Joud and Tang. In this study 74 species of 19 families of Rhodophyta was identified. Rhodomelaceae has higher number of genera and Gracilaria has higher number of species in studied areas. Nineteen species were new records for algal flora of Iran and 45 species were not recorded in Catalogue of Benthic marine algae of Indian Ocean. The specimens were deposited in the Herbarium of Agriculture and Natural Resources Researches Centre of Hormozgan province, Iran.

In order to determine phenotypic diversity, 40 Rosa damascena accessions were evaluated in a completely randomized block design with 3 replications at the experimental field of Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Tehran, Iran. Several traits including flower weight, flower diameter, peduncle length, number of petals, number of stamens, leaf area, leaf dry weight and thorns intensity were recorded and analyzed for two years (2005-2006). Correlation coefficients showed that flower yield correlated positively with number of petals and negatively with peduncle length, leaf area, leaf dry weight and thorn intensity. Because of high heritability obtained for flower weight, number of petals, number of stamens and thorn intensity, selection based on these characters is recommended. Cluster and principal components analyses showed no relationship between genetic divergence and geographical origins, indicating germplasm exchange between different areas of Iran.