Palynological characteristics of 30 Salvia taxa in sections Hymenosphace and Aethiopis from Turkey were investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy. S. aethiopis (sect. Aethiopis) has the smallest pollen while S. blepharochlaena (sect. Hymenosphace) has the largest pollen. The basic shape of the pollen grains in most taxa is suboblate, oblate-spheroidal, or prolate-spheroidal to spheroidal; however, subprolate pollen grains are occasionally are found in S. cassia of sect. Aethiopis. Hexacolpate pollen is dominant in all studied taxa, but heptacolpate and octacolpate pollen grains are mixed together in S. palaestina (heptacolpate, 20%) and S. candidissima subsp. candidissima (heptacolpate, 2% and octacolpate, 40%). The exine sculpturing is bireticulate (the common type) or reticulate-perforate. The bireticulate and the reticulate-perforate sculpturing patterns can be divided into subtypes according to the number of primary lumina. Taxonomic implications of the pollen data are also discussed.

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Astragalus bartinense is described as a new species from Bartın Province in Northern Anatolia, Turkey. The new species is close to A. depressus L. and A. froedinii Murb., but distinctly differs from A. froedinii in having hairy fruit, long stipules (10–12 mm) and peduncle (10–25 mm). It also differs from A. depressus in having long stipules and a stipitate and glabrous ovary. Taxonomic descriptions, micromorphology of pollen and seed and geographical distribution are presented.

The pollen grains of 19 Turkish Salvia species in Aethiopis, Drymosphace, Hemisphace, Hymenosphace and Salvia sections, 13 of which are endemic to Turkey, were investigated, documented and illustrated through Light Microscopy (LM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). This study provides pollen data of 14 species for the first time. The pollen grains of the species examined are monads, isopolar, radially symmetrical and hexacolpate, mostly medium in size, slightly elliptic to more or less circular in polar view and mainly oblate-spheroidal in equatorial view. Two different ornamentation types are recognized on exine sculpturing; reticulate-perforate and bireticulate. The present results do not generally support the traditional infrageneric classification of Salvia, but provide useful pollen characters for species delimitation.

Astragalus sertavulensis is described as a new species from Karaman in south Anatolia, Turkey. The new species is closely related to A. mesogitanus Boiss. & Balansa and A. lycaonicus Hub.‐Mor. & Reese and is one of only three species in the section that have a hairy corolla. However, while only the standard is hairy in A. mesogitanus, and all the corolla parts are hairy in A. lycaonicus, only the standard and keel are hairy in A. sertavulensis. Furthermore, A. sertavulensis is the only member of the section where the stipules are close to the internodes, at least at the base. A taxonomic description as well as pollen and other morphological characters of the new species were presented. In addition, the geographical distribution of A. sertavulensis, A. mesogitanus and A. lycaonicus is mapped.