Silene gevasica Hamzaoğlu sp. nova is described as a new species from Gevaş district (Van province). The specimen was collected from calcareous rocks, at an altitude between 2100 and 2200 m from Artos mountain. The new species is similar to Silene araratica Schischk. The differences between these 2 taxa are discussed. | Research Article Turk J Bot 35 (2011) 67-70 © TÜBİTAK doi: A new species of Silene (Caryophyllaceae) from East Anatolia (Turkey): Silene gevasica Hamzaoğlu sp. nova Ergin HAMZAOĞLU*, Murat KOÇ, Ümit BUDAK Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Bozok University, 66200 Yozgat - TURKEY Received: Accepted: Abstract: Silene gevasica Hamzaoğlu sp. nova is described as a new species from Gevaş district (Van province). The specimen was collected from calcareous rocks, at an altitude between 2100 and 2200 m from Artos mountain. The new species is similar to Silene araratica Schischk. The differences between these 2 taxa are discussed. Key words: Auriculatae, Van, Silene, systematics, taxonomy Doğu Anadolu’dan (Türkiye) Silene cinsinin (Caryophyllaceae) yeni bir türü: Silene gevasica Hamzaoğlu sp. nova Özet: Silene gevasica Hamzaoğlu sp. nova, Gevaş ilçesinden (Van) yeni bir tür olarak tanımlandı. Bu türArtos dağından kalkerli kayalar üzerinde, 2100-2200 metreler arasından yetişir. Silene gevasica türü Silene araratica Schischk. türüne yakındır. Bu iki takson arasındaki farklar tartışıldı. Anahtar sözcükler: Auriculatae, Van, Silene, sistematik, taksonomi Introduction Silene L. is the largest genus in the family Caryophyllaceae. It comprises ca. 700 species that are mainly found in N temperature regions, and Africa and South America (Melzheimer, 1988). South-west Asia is one of the main centres of diversity for the genus, which is represented by 147 species in Turkey (Coode & Cullen, 1967; Davis et al., 1988, Greuter, 1995; Tan & Vural, 2000; Vural & Dönmez, 2002; Duran & Menemen, 2003; Deniz & Düşen, 2004; Genç et al., 2007; Bağcı et al., 2007; Bağcı, 2008; Tugay & Ertuğrul, 2008; Aksoy et al., 2008; Kandemir et al., 2009; Yıldız & Dadandı, 2009; Hamzaoğlu et al., 2010; Yıldız & Erik, 2010; Yıldız et al., 2010). The authors collected some interesting Silene specimens from Gevaş district (Van province). .
