The taxonomy of the type section of the genus Seseli is revised based on newly obtained molecular data. The type species of the genus, Seseli tortuosum, is shown to be a polyphyletic taxon and is split into two species: the western Mediterranean S. tortuosum and the eastern Mediterranean S. arenarium. The Turkish endemics S. hartvigii, S. serpentinum and S. andronakii, and the Transcaucasian S. grandivittatum form a complex of closely related species together with S. arenarium. The results of the molecular analysis confirm the specific rank of S. corymbosum, S. phrygium and S. paphlagonicum and the status of S. gummiferum as distinct from either of these three. The latter species is strictly endemic to Crimea and does not occur in Turkey.
The systematic position of the monotypic genus Ekimia H.Duman & M.F.Watson (Apiaceae), a narrow endemic to Turkey, was evaluated on the basis of morphological data and nrDNA ITS sequences. Ekimia bornmuelleri (Hub.-Mor. & Reese) H.Duman & M.F.Watson was initially described in Prangos Lindl. Due to the unique fruit morphology uncommon for this genus it was later shifted to an independent genus. In the Bayesian and most parsimonious trees, E. bornmuelleri is sister to Laserpitium petrophilum Boiss. & Heldr and Laserpitium glaucum Post within the Daucinae clade. This result is consistent with its morphology: the presence of the primary and secondary ribs of E. bornmuelleri fruits brings the species closer to Laserpitium rather than Prangos.
Species of the genus Burmannia possess distinctive and highly elaborated flowers with prominent floral tubes that often bear large longitudinal wings. Complicated floral structure of Burmannia hampers understanding its floral evolutionary morphology and biology of the genus. In addition, information on structural features believed to be taxonomically important is lacking for some species. Here we provide an investigation of flowers and inflorescences of Burmannia based on a comprehensive sampling that included eight species with various lifestyles (autotrophic, partially mycoheterotrophic and mycoheterotrophic). We describe the diversity of inflorescence architecture in the genus: a basic (most likely, ancestral) inflorescence type is a thyrsoid comprising two cincinni, which is transformed into a botryoid in some species via reduction of the lateral cymes to single flowers. Burmannia oblonga differs from all the other studied species in having an adaxial (vs. transversal) floral prophyll. For the first time, we describe in detail early floral development in Burmannia. We report presence of the inner tepal lobes in B. oblonga, a species with reportedly absent inner tepals; the growth of the inner tepal lobes is arrested after the middle stage of floral development of this species, and therefore they are undetectable in a mature flower. Floral vasculature in Burmannia varies to reflect the variation of the size of the inner tepal lobes; in B. oblonga with the most reduced inner tepals their vascular supply is completely lost. The gynoecium consists of synascidiate, symplicate, and asymplicate zones. The symplicate zone is secondarily trilocular (except for its distal portion in some of the species) without visible traces of postgenital fusion, which prevented earlier researchers to correctly identify the zones within a definitive ovary. The placentas occupy the entire symplicate zone and a short distal portion of the synascidiate zone. Finally, we revealed an unexpected diversity of stamen-style interactions in Burmannia. In all species studied, the stamens are tightly arranged around the common style to occlude the flower entrance. However, in some species the stamens are free from the common style, whereas in the others the stamen connectives are postgenitally fused with the common style, which results in formation of a gynostegium.
The "Flora of Russia" project on iNaturalist brought together professional scientists and amateur naturalists from all over the country. Over 10,000 people were involved in the data collection.
Within 20 months, the participants accumulated 750,143 photo observations of 6,857 species of the Russian flora. This constitutes the largest dataset of open spatial data on the country’s biodiversity and a leading source of data on the current state of the national flora. About 87% of all project data, i.e. 652,285 observations, are available under free licences (CC0, CC-BY, CC-BY-NC) and can be freely used in scientific, educational and environmental activities.
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