Rediscovery of the enigmatic Scutellaria xylorrhiza (Scutellarioideae; Lamiaceae) - a rare endemic species from Iran
Author
Salmaki, Yasaman
Author
Müller, Jochen
Herbarium Haussknecht, Institut für Spezielle Botanik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Fürstengraben 1, 07737 Jena, Germany. * Author for correspondence
text
Phytotaxa
2019
2019-03-04
394
4
267
275
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.394.4.4
journal article
302486
10.11646/phytotaxa.394.4.4
36d8d2bb-d1b1-4550-b379-c6b16b430595
1179-3163
13718420
Scutellaria xylorrhiza
Bornmüller (1911a: 7)
(
Figs. 1
,
2A‒B
)
Type (
Lectotype
, designated here):—[
Iran
] Kohrud,
20 June 1904
,
Th. Strauss
s.n. (
JE
00001284!,
isolectotype
B
100241792!).
Plants perennial, saxicolous, suffruticose herbs with woody base. Stems thin and fragile, numerous, erect to decumbent,
4–10 cm
tall, covered by papillate short simple hairs. Basal leaves long-petiolate; blade ovate to broadly ovate, 1.2‒2.2 ×
1‒2.5 cm
, subcrenate to entire, ± obtuse at apex, cuneate to rarely rounded at base, upper surface sparsely covered by short curved papillate simple hairs (
Fig. 3A
), lower surface rarely with peltate glandular hairs (
Fig. 3D
); petiole length equal or subequal to that of the blade. Cauline leaves shortly petiolate; blade broadly ovate to ovate-rounded, 1‒2 ×
0.9‒2.1 cm
, leaf margins and indumentum similar to the basal leaves (leaf margin sometimes dentate); petiole
1‒1.2 cm
long. Inflorescence secund, compressed and terminal, dense,
4‒7 cm
long, verticillasters 2-flowered. Bracts subsessile or with a short stalk (up to
1 mm
long), ovate to lanceolate,
3‒4 mm
long, covered by stalked glandular hairs and curved simple hairs. Pedicel
1‒2 mm
long. Calyx
2‒3 mm
long, growing to
5 mm
in fruit, densely covered by exerted, long-stalked glandular hairs, sessile to subsessile peltate glandular hairs and curved papillate simple hairs (
Fig. 3B‒D
). Corolla
16‒20 mm
long, tubular, apically bilabiate, with hooded upper lip, violet with a large white spot on lower lip, covered by stalked and sessile glandular hairs and simple short hairs outside, glabrous inside; corolla tube curved at base. Mericarps ovate to elliptic in outline, covered with appressed grey hairs, c. 1.3 ×
0.8 mm
.
Species examined:
—
Iran
. Prov.
Isfahan
: south of
Isfahan
, N-facing slopes, Sofeh Mountains,
32°57′42″N
, 51°64′65″E, ca.
1900 m
,
1 August 2017
,
Y
. Salmaki &
S
. Zarre
45417 (
TUH
!),
Y
. Salmaki &
S
. Zarre
45418 (
TUH
!).
FIGURE 4.
Majority rule consensus tree inferred from Bayesian analysis of nrDNA ITS sequences showing the phylogenetic placement of
Scutellaria xylorrhiza
. Posterior probability and bootstrap support (PP/BS) values are reported above at the nodes.
Distribution and ecology:
—
Scutellaria xylorrhiza
is found on bare rocks at N-facing slopes of the Sofeh Mountains south of
Isfahan
, a province capital in the central part of
Iran
(
Fig. 2C
). The small and cushion-forming subalpine species grows at an elevation of
1800–2200 m
.
Phenology:
—Flowering between late June and early August and fruiting between middle and late August.
Conservation remarks:
—
Scutellaria xylorrhiza
can be considered as Critically Endangered (CR) subcategory A1 according to the IUCN Red List (
IUCN 2010
) categories. It is known only from an area which is not very close to the
type
locality (Barzuk Mountain near Kohrud) in
Isfahan Province
. We found about 70 individuals of this plant in the single locality, but we presume there should be also populations in the
type
locality which are not easy to access. As there are no additional specimens except those that were collected by Strauss and Stapf in 1904,
Jamzad (2012)
considered this species as presumably extinct because the distribution area of this species is heavily disturbed by human usage.
Typification of
Scutellaria xylorrhiza
:
—The name was published in the journal named Russkij Botaniceskij Zurnal (
Bornmüller 1911a
), and in the same year, re-published in Beihefte zum Botanischen Centralblatt, Abteilung (
Bornmüller 1911b
). Since the latter article addresses to the publication in Russkij Botaniceskij Zurnal, this may be considered as the protologue, although an earlier publication of the first is not proven.
The protologue (
Bornmüller 1911a
) refers to a specimen from Kuh-i-Barsuk, collected on
22 June 1904
by Theodor Strauss, but without designation of that specimen as the
holotype
. No specimen with that collection date was found in the collections of B, JE and W, although W houses a specimen from Kuh Barsuk collected on
23 June 1904
. Since this specimen has no original label, there might have been a transcription error. Another gathering at B and JE, labelled Kohrud,
20 June 1904
, and cited by
Bornmüller (1911b)
should be regarded as an additional
syntype
. As Barsuk is in the district of Kohrud, Strauss may discarded to write the name on all sheets. We here select the sample (JE00001284) at JE as the
lectotype
and, the voucher specimen (B100241792) deposited at B as the
isolectotype
.