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GAGEA ALEXII (LILIACEAE), A NEW RECORD FROM SUBNIVAL ZONE OF SOUTHERN IRAN WITH KEY AND NOTES ON SECT. INCRUSTATAE

YOUSEF AJANI¹, JALIL NOROOZI² AND IGOR G. LEVICHEV³

Abstract: Gagea alexii Ali & Levichev (G. sect. Incrustatae Levichev) is recorded from the subnival zone of the southern mountains of Iran, the Hezar Mts. (Kerman province). Plant associates and some ecological aspects of the habitat of the species are discussed. A distribution map and expanded  description of the G. alexii, including a cross-section of the peduncle is given. The morphological comparison of this species with its close relatives is also provided. The characters of the G.sect. Incrustatae and a key for specific identification are presented. The occurrence of this species in the subnival zone of the Hezar Mts. is a further evidence of the close floristic affinity of the southeastern Zagros with the Hindu Kush and Central Asia especially at high altitudes.

¹Institute of Medicinal Plants (IMP), Iranian Academic Centre for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR), 55 km Tehran-Qazvin freeway, P.O. BOX 31375369, Karaj, Iran; E- mail: ajanisef@yahoo.com

²Department of Conservation Biology, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology, Faculty Centre of Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Wien.

E-mail: noroozi.jalil@gmail.com

³Herbarium, Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Popov Str. 2, Saint Petersburg 197376, Russia.

Email: ilevichev@yandex.ru