| Asteraceae |
|---|
Centaurea persica BOISS. |
Centaurea L. |
| C. persica Boiss., Diagn. ser. 1(6): 132 (1845). Syn: Colymbada persica (Boiss.) Holub in Folia Geobot. & Phytotax. 7:316 (1972)! Perennial, stem erect, (15-)20-60 cm, with few branches. Leaves subglabrous (very short bristles at margin and sometimes sparse short hairs on surface); lyrate with 2-4 pairs of lateral segments and a much larger terminal segment or lanceolate with small lobes in lower half. Involucre c. 20-25 x 15-20 mm, ovoid to nearly globose. Appendages narrowly triangular, with 6-10 cilia, (3-)4-6 mm, on each side, gradually narrowed into spine, (6-)8-20 mm (incl. spine). Flowers rose-purple. Achenes 6-7 mm; pappus 7-9 mm. Ft. 7-8. Rocky slopes, pastures, 1950-2100 m. Type: [Iran] in faucibus alpis Kuh-Daena (Kuh-e Dinar) Persiae australis 16 vii 1842, Kotschy 664 (BM! G! GOET! W!). S.E. Anatolia. C1O Hakkari: Gevar Ovasi 2-3 km from Yüksekova, 1950 m, D. 45762! Cilo Da., at Sua, 2100 m, D. 24226b! N. Iraq, W. Iran. Ir.-Tur. element. In W. Iran a very variable species difficult to delimit. From Anatolia only the two cited collections have been seen; they differ in the length of the spines and the shape of the terminal leaf-segments, but seem both to belong to this species. |