Tropicos | Name - !Scorzonera L.

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!Scorzonera L.

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Perennial or annual, lactiferous herbs, rarely ± shrubs. Root stocks present or absent. Stem distinct or reduced. Leaves in a basal rosette or alternate, simple, sessile or petiolate, basally semiamplexicaul, linear to linear-eliptic or lanceolate and grass-like with parallel veins, entire, flat or sometimes undulate-margined. Capitula homogamous, solitary or borne in a corymbose synflorescence. Involucre cylindrical to campanulate, mostly elongated at fruiting. Phyllaries usually few to multiseriate, imbricate, usually prolonged in fruiting stage, often with scarious margins, outer ones mostly c. half as long as inner lanceolate to linear-lanceolate inner phyllaries. Receptacle naked. Florets mostly yellow, rarely violet or purple, hermaphrodite, with 5-toothed ligules. Anther base sagittate, style branches long with very small hairs. Cypsela + cylindrical to columnar, with numerous smooth or tuberculate longitudinal ribs, glabrous, puberulent or villous along entire length or near apices only, apex truncate or more rarely attenuate, base usually attenuate and slightly curved. Pappus of soft, fimbriately plumose and intertwined bristles, often apically scabrid, more than 2-seriate, persistent or caduceus.

A polyphyletic genus with about c. 175 species (Mabberley, 2008), distributed mainly in Mediterranean region, central Europe to central Asia and Pakistan. Represented in Pakistan by 18 species.

Excluded Taxa

Scorzonera mollis M. Bieb., Fl. Taur.-Cauc. 3: 522. 1819.

This species occurs mainly in Europe and extends its distribution eastwards not beyond Iran.

Scorzonera ramosissima DC., Prodr. 7: 125. 1838.

Specimens cited by R. R. Stewart (l. c. 729) need to be reassessed and may belong to some other species of Scorzonera as S. ramosissima is probably confined to Iran and Iraq.

Scorzonera tuberosa Pall., Reise Russ. Reich. 3: 757. 1776.

Burkill (Flow. Pl. Baluch. 45. 1911) and R. R. Stewart (l. c. 780) reports this Kazakhstan and SW Russian species from Balochistan citing a untraceable specimen collected by Hugh Buller (HB # 17319) from Killa Abdullah but its occurrence is doubtful, hence excluded.

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1.	+	Florets yellow or yellow with purplish streaks beneath ligules.	2
	–	Florets pinkish-purple or lilac.	16. S. papposa
2.	+	Capitular buds turbinate, outer phyllaries apically uncinate. Tuberous rootstock absent.	3
	–	Capitular buds cylindrical or tubular or funnel-shaped, outer phyllaries not uncinate. Tuberous rootstock present or sometimes absent.	4
3.	+	Plants densely caespitose, with few leaves. Pappus bristles 20-22, yellowish.	12. S. seidlitzii
	–	Plants not caespitose, but densely leafy all over. Pappus bristles 38- 40, violet.	10. S. codringtonii
4.	+	Plants lanate. Cypsela with long silky hairs.	5
	–	Plants appressed arachnoid hairy, tomentose or farinose to glabrous. Cypselas glabrous or puberulous.	6
5.	+	Leaves 5 – 6 mm wide near base. Cypselas c. 7 mm long. Pappus almost as long as cypsela.	2. S. gageoides
	–	Leaves 3 – 5 mm wide near base. Cypselas 5 – 7 mm long. Pappus two times longer than cypsela.	3. S. litwinowii
6.	+	Plants perennial, with tuberous rootstock.	7
	–	Plants perennial without tuberous rootstock.	11
7.	+	Plants up to 10 cm tall. Leaves elliptic to suborbicular, minutely erose-dentate on margins.	7. S. paradoxa
	–	Plants 15 cm or more tall. Leaves lanceolate, linear-lanceolate or linear-filiform, entire, erose-crenulate or undulate on margins.	8
8.	+	Leaves lanceolate, undulate or wavy on margins.	9
	–	Leaves linear-filiform or linear, entire on margins.	10
9.	+	Plants 25 cm or more tall. Tubers ovoid to oblong-ovoid. Involucre c. 10 mm wide. Pappus bristles 11 – 12 mm long, brown.	6. S. ferganica
	–	Plants up to 20 cm tall. Tubers elliptic to globular. Involucre c. 7 mm wide. Pappus bristles 15 – 18 mm long, grayish.	8. S. raddeana
10.	+	Tubers oblong, c. 1.5 cm wide, covered with scales. Phyllaries 2-seriate, inner ones 6 – 10 mm wide. Cypselas 14 – 16 mm long with brown pappus bristles.	9. S. tunicate
	–	Tubers globose, 2.5 cm wide, not covered with scales. Phyllaries 3-seriate, inner ones 3 – 4 mm wide. Cypselas 9 – 12 mm long with silky white pappus bristles. .	11. S. pusilla
11.	+	Leaves on 1-1.5 cm long petiole, lanceolate, 1-3 cm wide. Phyllaries purple-margined. Pappus violaceous.	17. S. pachycephala
	–	Leaves sessile, linear-lanceolate or linear-filiform, up to 3 mm wide. Phyllaries not Purple-margined. Pappus dirty-white or brown.	12
12.	+	Branches few and not intricate, leaves linear-lanceolate, 20-30 cm long, involucre 3-seriate.	4. S. virgata
	–	Branches numerous and intricate, leaves linear to filiform, up to 15 cm long. Involucre 2-seriate.	13
13.	+	Undershrub, branches thick and more divergent.	14
	–	Herb, branches thin and less divergent.	16
14.	+	Peduncles highly flexible and circinate.	13. S. koelpinioides
	–	Peduncles rigid or less flexible and not circinate.	15
15.	+	Peduncles 4 – 10 cm long, all upward directed and parallel. Cypsela 10-ribbed, not muricate.	1. S. intricata
	–	Peduncle 4 – 6 cm long, all divergent. Cypsela 4-ribbed, muricate.	5. S. tortuosissima
16.	+	Outer phyllaries dark-spotted at apices. Pappus bristles >16 mm long.	15. S. longipapposa
	–	Outer phyllaries not dark-spotted at apices. Pappus bristles up to 16 mm long.	17
17.	+	Semiprostrate herb, stem and peduncles flexible. Capitula bending towards the lower side. Cypsela not muricate.	14. S. baluchistanica
	–	Erect herb, stem and peduncles rigid. Capitula not bending towards the lower side. Cypsela slightly muricate.	18. S. hondae