تاکسونومی و بیوسیستماتیک (Sep 2022)
A New Record of an Alien Species Oenothera Indecora (Onagraceae) for the Flora of Iran
Abstract
Nowadays, one of the most important threats to the biodiversity is adventive invasive species. In recent years, numerous imported plants with high invasion behavior have been reported from the Caspian coasts, especially Guilan province. During a field mission related to collecting plant specimens from Hyrcanian forests in Guilan province, Oenothera indecora Cambess. from the Onagraceae family was collected and identified for the first time from the Siahkalrud area of Chaboksar and is reported as a new record for the flora of Iran. The species, which is native to South America grows outside its native range and it is now established as a neophyte in several tropical and subtropical areas. The most important morphological traits of this species have been compared with its closely related species, O. parodiana Munz. Also, the geographical distribution, photos of the plant, habitat, and distribution of the species in the world and Iran are provided. In the following, the alien species was investigated and compared in terms of some invasive aspects in the world and Iran.IntroductionIn the modern world, one of the most important threats to the biodiversity is adventive invasive species (Mikeladze et al., 2017). In recent years, numerous imported plants with high invasion behavior have been reported from the Caspian coasts, especially Guilan province (Moradi, 2021). Oenothera L. is the second largest genus in Onagraceae and consists of 145 species (Wagner et al., 2007). These plants grow in temperate to subtropical areas of America, many of them are widely naturalized in several areas of the earth (Dietrich, 1977). The genus comprises annual, biennial or perennial herbs, many of which occur in primarily or secondarily open habitats including old fields and roadsides, stream sides, or dunes (Dietrich, 1977). According to the flora of Iran, two species including O. biennis and O. laciniata grow in Iran (Azizian, 2005), and are the naturalized alien species in the country. In the present study, O. indecora Cambess. is reported for the first time from Iran. O. indecora is a species belonging to the sect. Oenothera, subsect. Munzia ser. Allochroa, which includes species with cylindrical capsules rarely enlarged in the upper third or somewhat petiolate, is not fused with the subtending bract (Dietrich, 1977). The species, which is native to South America (Dietrich, 1977), grows outside its native range and it is now established as a neophyte in several tropical and subtropical areas (Crisafulli et al., 2013). Materials and MethodsDuring a floristic study of Hyrcanian forests, the species was collected from the Siahkalrud area of Chaboksar from Guilan province and deposited in the Guilan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center. The specimen was examined and identified using the flora and relevant literature (Azizian, 2005; Dietrich, 1977; Crisafulli et al., 2013). Results and ConclusionsOenothera indecora Cambess.Annual or biennial plants are unbranched or with ascending branches arising from the rosette, 2o-6o cm tall. The entire plant is sparsely long-villous with erect hairs, densely to sparsely short-villous together glandular hairs. Rosette leaves are narrowly oblanceolate, acute, 4-8 cm long, and 0.2-1.3 cm wide. Cauline leaves are narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, acute, sessile, 2.5-7 cm long, and 0.2-1.2 cm wide. Bracts are narrowly elliptic to elliptic, sessile, and longer than or about the same length as the capsules they subtend, 1.5-5 cm long, 0.2-1 cm wide; leaves plane or undulate at the margins, irregularly serrate with blunt teeth. The inflorescence is branched. The floral tube is 0.5-1.5 cm long. Sepals are green or yellowish green, often densely flecked with reddish brown; apices of the sepals are 1-1.5 mm long, and erect. Petals elliptic to obovate, yellow, turning reddish with age, 4-10 mm long. Anthers are 1.5-4 mm long. Filaments are 1.5- 7 mm long. The style short is 1-2 cm long. Stigma lobes are 1-2 mm long. Capsules are 2-3 cm long, 1.5-2.5 mm thick; seeds elliptic to rotund in outline.Examined specimensIran, Guilan, Chaboksar, Siahkalrud forest road, near the river, 36° 58' 55.2" N-50° 26' 13.83" E, 180 m, 27/07/1401, 05/08/1401, Moradi & Mahdavi (GILAN-6956, 6966).HabitatsThe species was collected on the sandy soil, near a river with Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn. subsp. barbata (C.A.Mey.) Yaltirik -Pterocarya fraxinifolia (Poir.) Spach vegetation, and is associated with other plants such as Geranium pyrenaicum Burm.f., Clinopodium nepeta (L.) Kuntze subsp. glandulosum (Req.) Govaerts, Sedum hispanicum L., Digitaria sanguinalis(L.) scop., Oxalis acetosella L., Artemisia annua L., Pimpinella affinis Ledeb., Erigeron canadensis L., Hypericum perforatum L., Eryngium caucasicum Fisch. ex Steud., Phytolaca Americana L., Setaria viridis (L.) P.Beauv. indecora, is closely related to O. parodiana, but it is distinguished from the mentioned species according to some morphological features such as the length of the bracts in the first one is almost the same length as the capsule or longer than it, in the second one, it is half of the length of the capsule or shorter than it. The first one has glandular hairs, the second one does not. indecora is native to several countries in South America. In Europe, it is known as an alien species in the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Belgium, and Spain (Yuzbasioglu, 2014); and it was recently reported from Italy (Crisafulli et al., 2013).In a study related to the invasiveness of Oenothera species in South Africa, it was concluded that their propensity to invade undisturbed areas potentially makes them a more serious threat than species that occur exclusively in disturbed areas. According to this, 0. rosea, 0. Stricta, and 0. Tetraptera, as well as 0. parodiana and 0. Indecora, are the species that show the greatest potential to become more problematical in the future. O. indecora (native to South America), as a neophyte species that grows in low-altitude Hyrcanian forests, could be more invasive in the future than the two species O. biennis and O. laciniata that originate from North America. There are also previous reports from Iran (Azizian, 2014; Amini & Zare, 2014) that they grow on the sand dunes of the Caspian Sea. There is a possibility of the presence of this species in other lowland Caspian forest areas under similar vegetation conditions which needs further investigation in this field. AcknowledgmentThe authors of the study are very grateful to Dr. Filip Verloove, a specialist in alien flora of the Belgian Botanical Garden, for her sincere cooperation in identifying the species by confirming the photos sent.We are also grateful to Dr. Shahriar Sobh Zahedi, a researcher from the Guilan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, for his cooperation in preparing the distribution map of the studied species.
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