A new species of Hesperis (Brassicaceae) from SW Anatolia, Turkey

摘要

Hesperis kuerschneri, from the vilayet of Denizli in the Western Taurus is described as a species new to science and illustrated. Its affinities are with H. theophrasti, which has several infraspecific taxa in the Balkans and Anatolia. The new speciesoccurs on steep serpentine scree slopes together with other serpentine plants of the Western Taurus and is rather local in distribution. A perennial Hesperis L. was collected from serpentine scree in the vilayet of Denizli, SW Anatolia, by the German pharmacist Robert Ulrich (Tubingen) and sent to the first author. It could not be identified using "Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands" (Cullen 1965) or its two supplements (Davis & al. 1988, Guner & al. 2000), nor by relevant literature (Dvorak 1968, 1973, 1980, Meikle 1977, Mouterde 1970, Tan & Suda 2002). A search in some herbaria (B, C, E, GAZI, HUB, abbreviations following Holmgren & Holmgren 1998-) yielded no confirmatory results. A rewarding number of new taxa from southern Anatolia has already been acquired by Robert Ulrich, who has a sharp eye for the new and the extraordinary (see Aytag & al. 2006, Wagenitz & al. 2006). The Old World genus Hesperis comprises c. 55-60 species and is especially well represented in Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian areas. Turkey is with 31 species and 17 endemic taxa a major diversity centre for the genus (Duran & al. 2002, see also Duran & Ocak 2005). The Hesperis we describe here as new to science also illustrates that exploration of ultramafic rock outcrops in Turkey is promising and that many areas are floristically still incompletely documented.