A morphological re-evaluation of the taxonomic status of Satureja L. (Lamiaceae, Nepetoideae, Mentheae) from flora of Iran Author Bordbar, Firouzeh Author Mirtadzadini, Mansour Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman (Iran) bordbar @ uk. ac. ir, fbordbar 2000 @ yahoo. com (corresponding author) mirtadz @ uk. ac. ir bordbar@uk.ac.ir text Adansonia 2024 3 2024-04-23 46 7 45 63 https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/adansonia2024v46a7.pdf journal article 10.5252/adansonia2024v46a7 1639-4798 11058077 Satureja hortensis L. Species Plantarum : 568 ( Linnaeus 1753 ) . — Type : described from S France and Italy (Hb. Linn. 723/9) Satureja officinarum Crantz, Institutiones Rei Herbariae 1: 526 ( Crantz 1766 ) . Satureja brachiata Stokes, A Botanical Materia Medica 3: 300 ( Stokes 1812 ) . Satureja pachyphylla C.Koch , in Linnaea 17: 295 ( Koch 1843 ) . — Clinopodium pachyphyllum (C.Koch) Kuntze, Revisio Generum Plantarum 2: 515 ( Kuntze 1891 ) . Satureja laxiflora C.Koch , in Linnaea 21: 668 ( Koch 1848 ) . Satureja hortensis L. var. includens Schur, Enumeratio plantarum Transsilvaniae : 531 ( Schur 1866 ) . Satureja hortensis L. var. exserens Schur, Enumeratio plantarum Transsilvaniae : 531 ( Schur 1866 ) . Satureja filicaulis Schott ex Boiss. , Flora Orientalis 4: 562 ( Boissier 1879 ) . Satureja hortensis L. var. grandiflora Boiss. , Flora Orientalis 4: 562( Boissier 1879 ) . — Clinopodium hortense (L.) Kuntze, Revisio Generum P1antarum 2: 515 ( Kuntze 1891 ) . Satureja litwinofwii Schmalh. ex Lipsky , Flora Caucasi : 108 ( Lipsky 1899 ) . Thymus cunila E.H.L.Krause, In Flora von Deutschland ed. 2, 11: 172 ( Krause 1903 ) . Calamintha hortensis hort. ex F.T.Hubb. , The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 6: 3082 (Bailey 1917) . Satureja hortensis L. var. speciosa Náb, Iter Turcico-Persicum . 3:44 ( Nábělek 1926 ) . Satureja hortensis L. var. depauperata Thieb., Flore libano-syrienne 3: 49 ( Thiébaut 1953 ) . Satureja altaica Boriss. , in Botanicheskie Materialy Gerbariya Botanicheskogo Instituti Imeni V.L. Komarova Akademii Nauk SSSR 15: 326 ( Borissova 1953 ) . Satureja densiflora Zein. , in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk Azerbaidzhana Seriya Biologicheskikh Nauk 1969 (2):15 ( Zeinalova 1969 ) . PHENOLOGY . — Flowering July to September, fruiting August to October. DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY . — Widely cultivated over the country or naturally grows on dry or moist soils of NW of Iran ( Fig. 4B ). SPECIMENS EXAMINED . — Iran •W Iran, Isfahan Prov. , Pol-e Zamankhan ; 03.VII.2004 ; Mirtadzadini 3806 ( MIR ) • Kordestan Prov. , Auraman valley , SW of Bölbar village ; 35°14’22.5”N , 46°17’30.7”E ; alt. 944 m ; 04.X.2017 ; Mirtadzadini 3807 ( MIR ) • SW of Auraman valley , Shiradarra area ; 35°13’50.5”N , 46°16’18.5”E ; alt. 1645 m ; 05.X.2017 ; Mirtadzadini 3833 ( MIR ) • NW Iran, West Azerbaijan Prov. , Khoy to Maku ; 28.VIII.2008 ; Mirtadzadini 3808 ( MIR ) (naturally grows) • Ardabil Prov. , Givi ; 15.X.2007 ; Mirtadzadini 1958 ( MIR ) (naturally grows) . Armenia • S Armenia, Syunik Province , 4 km to Goris from Sisian ; 39°29’16.9”N , 46°17’33.5”E ; alt. 1800 m ; 06.IX.2019 ; Mirtadzadini 3809 ( MIR ) . DESCRIPTION Aromatic, annual, 10-25(-35) cm high, all parts of the plant covered with short simple appressed hairs and sessile glands. Stems erect, covered with short white spreading glandular and eglandular hairs, length of lower internodes 15-35 mm , length of inflorescence internodes 20-40 mm . Leaves linear or linearlanceolate, obtuse, conduplicate, cauline leaves 10-30(-40) mm long, l-4(-5) mm wide, floral leaves similar in shape to the cauline leaves.Verticillasters distant, congested to lax, 2- to 20-flowered, flowers often sessile, peduncle up to 4 mm (if present), pedicel up to 2.5 mm (if present). Calyx green, campanulate, 3-5 mm , teeth narrow linear to subulate, slightly unequal, up to 3 mm . Corolla lilac, pink or white, 5-10 mm , tube included in or somewhat exserted from calyx. Nutlets widely elliptic, brown to dark brown, 1.2-1.3 mm long, c. 1 mm wide. REMARKS This species has a typical form with densely flowered verticillasters which is widely cultivated in Iran as a medicinal as well as pot-herb. The second form with lax-flowered verticillasters described as Satureja laxiflora in Flora Iranica ( Rechinger 1982 ) and Flora of Iran ( Jamzad 2012 ), naturally grows in NW of Iran .