AUTHOR=Moazzeni Hamid , Mahmoodi Mohammad , Jafari Mohammad , Schneeweiss Gerald M. , Noroozi Jalil 

TITLE=Underestimated diversity in high elevations of a global biodiversity hotspot: two new endemic species of Aethionema (Brassicaceae) from the alpine zone of Iran

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1182073

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2023.1182073

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Although the mountains in South-West Asia are a global biodiversity hotspot, our understanding of their biodiversity, especially in the commonly remote alpine and subnival zones, is still limited. This is well exemplified here by <italic>Aethionema umbellatum</italic> (Brassicaceae), a species considered to have a wide yet disjoint distribution in the Zagros and Yazd-Kerman mountains of western and central Iran. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic data (based on plastid <italic>trn</italic>L-<italic>trn</italic>F and nuclear ITS sequences) show that <italic>A. umbellatum</italic> is restricted to a single mountain range in southwestern Iran (Dena Mts., southern Zagros), whereas populations from central Iran (Yazd-Kerman and central Zagros) and from western Iran (central Zagros) belong to species new to science, <italic>A. alpinum</italic> and <italic>A. zagricum</italic>, respectively. Both new species are phylogenetically and morphologically close to <italic>A. umbellatum</italic>, with which they share unilocular fruits and one-seeded locules. However, they are easily distinguishable by leaf shape, petal size, and fruit characters. This study confirms that the alpine flora of the Irano-Anatolian region is still poorly known. As the proportion of rare and local endemic species in alpine habitats is high, these habitats are of prime interest for conservation efforts.</p>