Iranian Pimpinella L. (Apiaceae): A taxonomic revision - JBES An open access research journals

J. Bio. Env. Sci. 2016
Introduction
Apiaceae Lindl. (Umbelliferae Juss.) is a family of
some 455 genera and is widely distributed in Central
Asia (Pimenov and Leonov, 1993). The largest and
most taxonomically complex subfamily, Apioideae,
comprises 404 genera and 2827–2935 species
(Pimenov and Leonov, 1993). South-West Asia as a
whole is a region of high diversity for the family; after
China and Turkey, Iran is the third Asian country
with the greatest biodiversity (Pimenov and Leonov,
2004). Some of the endemic genera of Apiaceae in
Iran are: Szovitsia Fisch. & C.A.Mey.,
Rhabdosciadium Boiss., Dicyclophora Boiss.,
Thecocarpus Boiss., Haussknechtia Boiss.,
Polylophium Boiss., Kelussia Mozaff., Opsicarpium
Mozaff., LomatopodiumFisch. & C.A.Mey.
Among the genera of Apiaceae, Pimpinella L. has 150
species all over the world and it is one of the largest
genera of this family (Pimenov and Leonov, 1993).
Taxonomically, this genus is placed in subfamily
Apioideae and the major constituent of tribe
Pimpinelleae Spreng.(Downie et al., 2010).
Pimpinella is distributed in most part of Iran
especially in the north and west. As stated in Flora of
Iran (Mozaffarian, 2007) genus Pimpinella L. totally
includes 22 species in Iran, with P. anisum L. as a
cultivated specie; but anatomical studies confirm
morphological differences between P. anthriscoides
Boiss. and other species of Pimpinella. Therefore, this
species is affiliated into a distinct, new genus
Pseudopimpinella anthriscoides (Boiss.) F.Ghahrem.,
Khajepiri & Mozaff.(Khajepiri et al., 2010). In this
regard, according to Zakharova et al., 2012 new
combinations of this species are published:
Pseudopimpinella anthriscoides (Boiss.) F.Ghahrem.
& al. is transferred to Aegopodium L., as Aegopodium
tribracteolatum Schmalh.; and Pseudopimpinella
anthriscoides var. cruciate (Bornm. & H.Wolff.)
F.Ghahrem. & al. shows true affinity with the Balkan
– Near Eastern-Caucasian genus Tamamschjanella
Pimenov & Kljuykovso this variety is to be excluded
from Pimpinella and transferred to Tamamschjanella
as Tamamschjanella cruciata (Bornm. & H.Wolff.)
Pimenov & Zakharova.
Eight Iranian endemic species are as follows: P.
anisactis Rech.f., P. deverroides Boiss., P. khayyamii
Mozaff., P. khorasanica Engstrand, P. pastinacifolia
H.Wolff., P. tragioides (Boiss.) Benth. & Hook.f., P.
gedrosiaca Bornm. & P. dichotoma H.Wolff.
(Mozaffarian, 2007). Some of the most important
morphological characters in this genus are: duration,
stem indumentum, presence of the fibrous collar,
shape and division of basal and cauline leaves
(pinnate or rarely simple), existence or nonexistence
of sheath and petiole, presence of bracts and
bracteoles and number of them, relative size of rays
and pedicels and their indumentum, petal color, fruit
shape and stylopodium type in maturity, presence of
indumentum (include: hair, papilla, vesicle) and their
distribution in mature fruit.
In this paper, the most important characteristics for
the separation of the species, the relationships
between the species, an identification key and
distribution maps (Fig. 1) for all Iranian species are
presented.
Materials and methods
Plant material
For this research, all required plant specimens of
genus Pimpinella L. were provided from several
herbaria. For this reason, at first, all specimens of
Iranian species of this genus were studied at the
department of Botany of Naturhistorisches Museum
Wien (W). In addition all Pimpinella L. specimens
which are deposited at TARI, FAR, T, TUH and
FUMH herbaria also examined.
Morphological analysis
Analysis of morphological data was conducted using
NTSYS-pc version 2.02e (Rohlf, 2000).
Morphological data were converted into a similarity
matrix, using the simple matching coefficient (Sneath
and Sokal, 1973) with the SIMQUAL function. A
dendrogram was generated from the similarity matrix
by the unweight pair-group method using arithmetic
140 | Khajehpiri et al.