Chenopodium pamiricum (Amaranthaceae) and Allied Species in Asia: The Prolonged Misapplication of Names

Abstract

Up to the late 1990s and early 2000s, several small-leaved species of Chenopodium (Amaranthaceae s. lato/Chenopodiaceae s. stricto) were frequently misnamed in floras of central Asia and Siberia. Two widespread taxa, C. prostratum (now accepted as C. karoi) and C. vulvaria, were commonly recognized. However, the latter is absent from Siberia and occurs only in the southwestern central Asia. Further north the name 'vulvaria' was misapplied to two species, C. pamiricum and C. grubovii Lomon. & Uotila sp. nova, characterized by procumbent stem branched mostly basally and entire, ovate leaf blade. Chenopodium pamiricum, distinguished by erect stem branched along the whole length and trilobate to entire, trullate leaf blade, was earlier often known by the synonymous name C. iljinii and misapplied to C. grubovii. They can be distinguished from C. vulvaria and C. karoi by their deeply divided perianth lobes and broadly ovate seeds; from each other they mostly differ in the growth habit and leaf characters. Chenopodium karoi is very widely distributed, from the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas to northern and northeastern Asia, C. pamiricum and C. grubovii occur on high mountains from the Hindu Kush, Pamir, and western Himalayas as far as southern Siberia, Mongolia, and central and western China, the latter species being more common in the north. Chenopodium grubovii grows at higher elevations than C. pamiricum and both species usually grow at higher elevations than C. karoi. A key, descriptions, drawings, and distribution maps for these species are provided.

Taxonomic inventory and distributions of Chenopodiaceae (Amaranthaceae s.l.) in Orenburg Region, Russia

“…For generic delimitations and species classifications, we accepted the latest revisions of Chenopodieae ( Fuentes-Bazan et al 2012b ), Dysphanieae ( Uotila et al 2021 ), some Chenopodium ( Uotila and Lomonosova 2016 , Lomonosova and Uotila 2022 ) and Suaeda ( Lomonosova et al 2008 ). The general taxonomic framework was proposed by Sukhorukov (2014) .…”

“…It is distributed in temperate Asia and often confused with other species ( Lomonosova and Uotila 2022 ). In the last three decades, C. karoi was found as an alien plant along railroad embankments in the neighbouring Bashkortostan Republic (SVER!).…”

“…Mediterranean, West Asia, Iran, southern Central Asia, Himalayas ( Groom 2015 , Lomonosova and Uotila 2022 ).…”

A new Kalidium species (Amaranthaceae s. l.) from northern Central Asia

“…They mostly concern the Himalayan and Tibetan taxa (Uotila, 2013;Sukhorukov, Kushunina, 2014;Sukhorukov et al, 2019) that have been poorly studied. Some taxonomic improvements in Chenopodiaceae from Asiatic Russia and adjacent regions have also been made (Lomonosova et al, 2008;Sukhorukov et al, 2013;Uotila, Lomonosova, 2016;Lomonosova, Uotila, 2022). Nonetheless, several genera from temperate Asia are still insufficiently studied, such as Bassia All.…”