The monogeneric subtribe Echinopsinae of Cynareae (Asteraceae) was analysed using nrDNA ITS and plastid trnL-trnF for 81 of the ca. 120 species, representing all Echinops sections except Cenchrolepis and Pterolepis. Maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses were used for each dataset and for the combined data. The resulting molecular phylogenetic framework resolves Echinops as monophyletic and confirms the inclusion of E. acantholepis (= Acantholepis orientalis) within the genus. Echinops is divided into two lineages, one consisting of E. sect. Chamaechinops and sect. Acantholepis (almost exclusively annual or biennial), and the other the remaining sections (almost all perennial). Our results support an infrageneric classification of Echinops into nine previously recognized sections: Acantholepis (= Nanechinops), Chamaechinops, Echinops (= Terma), Hamolepis, Hololeuce, Oligolepis, Phaeochaete, Psectra and Ritropsis, all resolved as strongly monophyletic after some species relocations. The status of E. sect. Phaeochaete and the sectional assignment of E. onopordum, E. pungens and E. transcaucasicus remain to be clarified. The evolution of involucral bracts is congruent with the phylogenetic framework and supports the sectional classification. Annual pollen type does not constitute an autapomorphy of the clade grouping the annuals but may represent the ancestral character state for the entire genus.
A check-list of endemic vascular plants of the Tian-Shan Mountains, including plant distribution along mountain ranges and in Central Asian countries, has been compiled for the first time in this study. The list of Tian-Shan flora consists of 871 endemic species and subspecies. One subspecies belongs to Pinaceae (Pinopsida) and 870 taxa belong to Magnoliidae (dicots, 732 taxa, and monocots, 138 taxa). The endemic flora belongs to 39 families and 187 genera. The largest number of endemics is concentrated in the mountain ranges of Kyrgyzstan (225 national endemics, 507 taxa in total) and Kazakhstan (205 national endemics, 485 taxa in total). Uzbekistan occupies the third position (69 national endemics, 320 taxa in total). Tajikistan has fewer endemics: 82 taxa, of which only 16 taxa are national endemics. The most represented families and genera are: Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, and Amaryllidaceae; and Astragalus, Allium, Cousinia, Oxytropis, and Gagea, respectively.
National checklists of alien plants and detailed databases of non-native plant occurrences are required to study and control regional and global plant invasions. No country in Central Asia has a national checklist of alien plants. A recent inventory counted 183 alien plant species in Kyrgyzstan, including archaeophytes and neophytes, established and casual. This preliminary checklist, which was developed for the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species in 2018, served as a starting point for the present study. A complete inventory of Xanthium in Kyrgyzstan has revealed that three alien species are resident in the country. Their correct nomenclature is X. orientale (syn. X. albinum, X. californicum, X. sibiricum auct.; invasive neophyle of the period of extensive grain import to the USSR after the Second World War), X. spinosum (invasive neophyte of the period of the Second World War, which arrived as a contaminant on the relocated livestock) and X. strumarium (syn. X. chinense, X. sibiricum; archaeophyte of the Neolithic period, introduced with wheat cultivation, which had lost its invasive status and appeared on the verge of extinction when its pool was no longer renewed by contaminated grain). A history of introduction to Central Asia is uncovered for all the species of Xanthium. A further spread is documented for Bunias orientalis, with a new record extending its distribution to the Eastern Tian-Shan; a complex history of its introduction to Europe and Central Asia is inferred from the archaeological data and its recent dispersal, and the pathways of its introduction to Kyrgyzstan are established. Erigeron annuus s.str. is reported as new to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and E. lilacinus as new to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Tajikistan (it was previously recorded as E. annuus s.l. from the three latter countries, in which the presence of E. annuus s.str. is not confirmed). These closely related species differ in their pathways of introduction and invasion status: E. annuus s.str. is an invasive established alien which was imported as a contaminant of forage, whereas E. lilacinus is mostly a casual (locally persisting) alien introduced with contaminated seed of ornamental plants or nursery material, and also intentionally introduced and locally established in the Botanical Garden in Bishkek. Bidens tinctoria (syn. Coreopsis tinctoria) is newly recorded as a casual alien from a single locality in Kyrgyzstan; this species name is validly published here in conformity with the phylogeny of Coreopsideae. Point maps of species distributions in Kyrgyzstan are provided on the basis of a complete inventory of the literature data, herbarium specimens and documented observations, and our recent fieldwork. The maps are documented with a dataset of herbarium specimens and observations. Period and pathways of introduction, vectors of dispersal, current and historical invasion status, evidence of impact and distributional trend are established or inferred for each species. Each species is discussed in the context of plant invasions in Central Asia as a whole. These species accounts are part of the national database of alien plants which aims at producing a comprehensive overview and analysis of plant invasions in Kyrgyzstan.
Jurinea (Asteraceae: Cardueae) is a large Eurasian genus of about 180 species with centres of diversity in Central and Southwest Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. The genus includes many species with adaptations to xero-and chasmophytic habitats and comprises numerous endemics, especially in the Caucasus. Generic delimitations between Jurinea and closely related genera have been difficult to assess, as have the phylogenetic relationships with the genera Himalaiella, Jurinella and Lipschitziella, each of which has been suggested as congeneric with Jurinea. A molecular phylogenetic investigation at both the specific and the generic level to establish the generic delimitation of Jurinea and to evaluate the intergeneric relationships of the genus with other members of the Cardueae was hitherto lacking. In this study, we reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships between Jurinea and several closely related genera based on a representative taxon sampling using DNA sequence data of nuclear (ITS, ETS) and plastid DNA regions (trnK/matK, trnL-F). We also evaluate the infrageneric classification of Jurinea. Our results indicate that Jurinea is polyphyletic in its current circumscription, as the species J. gedrosiaca and J. cartilaginea are placed within the subtribe Centaureineae of the Cardueae. The rest of Jurinea is monophyletic and split into two major clades corresponding to the western and eastern range of the distribution area of the genus. The sister clade of Jurinea is composed of Himalaiella and Lipschitziella. Jurinella, which was segregated from Jurinea based on achene morphology, is congeneric with Jurinea. Like in other speciose Eurasian genera, the currently recognised sections do not reflect natural groups, whereas most clades found through molecular phylogenetic inference correlate with geographic patterns. A clade that exclusively comprises Caucasian endemics, including the narrow endemics of J. sect. Neobellae, was found. This clade represents an interesting study group for possible radiation events of Jurinea in the Caucasus.
A series of brief notes on distribution of vascular plants alien to Kyrgyzstan is presented. A further expansion of Anthemis ruthenica (Asteraceae), Crambe orientalis (Brassicaceae) and Salvia aethiopis (Lamiaceae) in northern and northwestern Kyrgyzstan is recorded. The first record of Chenopodium vulvaria (Amaranthaceae) from the northern side of Kyrgyz Range is confirmed, and the species was found for the second time in Alay Range. The ephemerous occurrence of Hirschfeldia incana (Brassicaceae) in Central Asia is recorded for the first time from Fergana Range. Tragus racemosus (Poaceae) is first recorded from the Chüy Depression as an ephemerous alien. Arrhenatherum elatius, escaped from cultivation and locally established, is new to the country. The second record of established occurrence of Centaurea solstitialis (Asteraceae) and an ephemerous occurrence of Glaucium corniculatum (Papaveraceae) are presented. Complete information is collected about the occurrence of every mentioned species in Kyrgyzstan.
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