Alopecurus goekyigitiana (Poaceae, subtribe Alopecurinae sensu stricto), a new species from Turkey based on morphological and molecular investigation

Abstract

Alopecurus goekyigitiana, a new species from the Taurus Mountains of Turkey, is described and illustrated. Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data support its relationship within Alopecurus sect. Colobachne with A. gerardi (plastid), or with the complex of A. davisii, A. lanatus, and A. vaginatus (nuclear ribosomal spacers). The new species differs from the above taxa by various combinations of characters, in having slender rhizomes and a mat-forming habit, indumentum of lower sheaths sparsely sericeous, glabrescent, culm leaf blades absent or vestigial, basal blades filiform, a dorsal awn on the lemma that is vestigial or up to 2 mm long, erect (not geniculate), and the palea absent. Notes on its ecology and conservation status are presented. A distribution map for the new species and its closest allies in Turkey is provided.