Silene bayburtensis Hamzaoğlu & Aksoy sp. nov. is described as a new species from Bayburt province (Turkey). The specimen was collected on a calcareous steppe, in 2 localities, at an altitude between 1700 and 1750 m. The new species is similar to Silene pharnaceifolia Fenzl. The differences between the species are discussed. | Research Article Turk J Bot 34 (2010) 47-50 © TÜBİTAK doi: A new species of Silene (Caryophyllaceae) from Turkey Ergin HAMZAOĞLU1,*, Ahmet AKSOY2, Ümit BUDAK1 1 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Bozok University, 66200 Yozgat - TURKEY 2Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Erciyes University, 38039 Kayseri - TURKEY Received: Accepted: Abstract: Silene bayburtensis Hamzaoğlu & Aksoy sp. nov. is described as a new species from Bayburt province (Turkey). The specimen was collected on a calcareous steppe, in 2 localities, at an altitude between 1700 and 1750 m. The new species is similar to Silene pharnaceifolia Fenzl. The differences between the species are discussed. Key words: Bayburt, Caespitosae, Silene, systematics, taxonomy Türkiye’den yeni bir Silene (Caryophyllaceae) türü Özet: Silene bayburtensis Hamzaoğlu & Aksoy sp. nov. Bayburt ilinden yeni bir tür olarak tanımlandı (Türkiye). Kalkerli bozkırlar üzerinde 1700-1750 metreler arasında gelişen bitki 2 adresten toplandı. Yeni tür Silene pharnaceifolia Fenzl’e yakındır. Türler arasındaki farklar tartışıldı. Anahtar sözcükler: Bayburt, Caespitosae, Silene, sistematik, taksonomi Introduction Silene L. is the largest genus in the family Caryophyllaceae. It comprises ca. 700 species and occurs in N temperature regions, Africa, and South America (Melzheimer, 1988). South-west Asia is one of the main centres of diversity for the genus, which is represented by 143 species in Turkey (Coode & Cullen, 1967; Davis et al., 1988, Greuter, 1995; Tan & Vural, 2000; 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). The authors collected some interesting Silene specimens from Bayburt (north-east of Turkey) during a project, supported by TÜBİTAK, to revise Turkey’s Senecio L. taxa (Asteraceae). These specimens were compared to specimens
