Centaurea aziziana . (Asteraceae) is recorded for the first time (B9 Van province) for the flora of Turkey. The diagnostic characters of C. aziziana are described and its habitat and conservation are discussed. | Research Note Turk J Bot 33 (2009) 235-238 © TÜBİTAK doi: A New Record for Turkey: Centaurea aziziana . (Asteraceae) Metin ARMAĞAN1,*, Murat ÜNAL2 1 Yüzüncü Yıl University, Faculty of Education, Department of Biology, 65080 Van - TURKEY 2 Yüzüncü Yıl University, Faculty of Science and Art, Department of Biology, 65080 Van - TURKEY Received: Accepted: Abstract: Centaurea aziziana . (Asteraceae) is recorded for the first time (B9 Van province) for the flora of Turkey. The diagnostic characters of C. aziziana are described and its habitat and conservation are discussed. Key Words: Asteraceae, Centaurea, new record, Turkey Türkiye İçin Yeni Bir Kayıt: Centaurea aziziana . (Asteraceae) Özet: Centaurea aziziana . (Asteraceae) türü Türkiye’den (B9 Van) ilk defa kaydedilmiştir. C. aziziana’nın tanıtıcı özellikleri, yetişme ortamı ve koruma durumu belirtilmektedir. Anahtar Sözcükler: Asteraceae, Centaurea, Türkiye, yeni kayıt Introduction During floristic investigations, the authors collected some Centaurea L. specimens around Güzeldere Pass and İspiriz Mountain (Van) between 2002 and 2007. Firstly, it was attempted to identify them according to the Flora of Turkey (Wagenitz, 1975; Davis et al., 1988; Güner et al., 2000; Özhatay & Kültür, 2006). Based on our further studies on the Centaurea specimens, it can be seen that these specimens have some common characteristics with C. cassia Boiss. and C. lycia Boiss. in Turkey. However, there were some discrepancies between the descriptions of them and our specimens (Figures 1 & 2). Therefore, it was compared with the Centaurea recorded in Flora Iranica (Wagenitz, 1980), and it was checked directly using herbarium specimens of TARI whether it is correct or not. Finally, it was identified as Centaurea aziziana, which is known as an endemic species in Iran. Therefore, it is obvious that this is a new record for Turkey. The record is not surprising since the .
