Delivered by Ingenta to: Guest User IP : 85.98.150.163 Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:05:28 Copyright © 2008 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America RESEARCH ARTICLE Advanced Science Letters Vol. 1, 132–139, 2008 Heliotropium thermophilum (Boraginaceae), aNewTaxonfromSWAnatolia,Turkey Kit Tan 1 ∗ , Ali Çelik 2 , Yusuf Gemici 3 , Meliha Gemici 3 , and Hasan Yıldırım 3 1 Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 2D, DK-1353 Copenhagen K, Denmark 2 Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology, Pamukkale University, 20017 Denizli, Turkey 3 Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Ege University, 35100 Bornova- ˙ I zmir, Turkey Heliotropium thermophilum Kit Tan, A. Çelik & Y. Gemici (Boraginaceae), is described as a species new to science and illustrated. Its diploid chromosome number of 2n = 16 is a first report. It is restricted to the province of Aydin bordering on Denizli in SW Anatolia and is of interest on account of its unusual habitat, which is a geothermal area with ground temperatures of 55–65  C. Affinities clearly lie with the annual H. hirsutissimum Grauer, which is distributed in N Africa, the East Mediterranean area, and SW Asia; the latter, however, is hexaploid (2n = 48) and never occurs in thermal habitats. Micromorphological, ecological, and ecophysiological data for the new taxon are provided. Ecological isolation has allowed the evolution and differentiation of a new and distinct species. 1. INTRODUCTION The genus Heliotropium L. is represented by ∼250 species in warm temperate regions of the world. Fifteen species are recorded from Turkey, of which one, H. curassavicum L., orig- inates from tropical America and is now fully naturalized. Only one species is endemic to the country, viz., H. haussknechtii Bunge from S Anatolia. Kızıldere in the vilayet (province) of Aydin in SW Anatolia was the first geothermal field to be developed in Turkey. It is sit- uated ∼6 km from the town of Buharkent at the eastern end of the Büyük Menderes graben, the area of which continues up to Afyon-Dinar (Tarcan, 2005). 1 In Kızıldere, hot vapor emission is used as a source of thermal energy. Twenty-three deep wells have beendrilledbyMTA(MadenTetkikveAramaGenelMüdürlü ˘ gü), which is the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Explo- rationinTurkey.Eightofthese,withaquifertemperaturesranging from 195 to 242  C, are currently in use to generate electricity and produce dry ice and liquid carbon dioxide. Subterranean water with temperatures reaching ∼116  C is channelled to the Kızıldere Geothermal Power Plant, where the water is cooled before discharging into the Büyük Menderes River, which flows as close as ∼2 km to Buharkent. The new species was first collected at Buharkent in August 2004 by one of the authors (A. Çelik). It was growing in the thermal valley with hot vapor emission, and the ground, when tested, revealed temperatures between 55 and 65  C. The plants resembled H. hirsutissimum Grauer (syn: H. villosum Willd.) but the corollas were golden-yellow instead of white. In the begin- ning we supposed that the different corolla color was a temporary aberration somehow caused by the warm environment. However, the corolla color did not revert to white when plants were taken and transferred to normal garden soil. Also, no plants in the vicinity differed in their flower color from plants of the same species growing outside the area or elsewhere in Turkey. H. hir- sutissimum was growing nearby on ordinary alluvial ground but no intermediates or color forms were found which would indi- cate a hybrid origin for the thermophilous plant. The plants were also fully fertile and produced viable seed. Based on these and several other characters we concluded that the plants represent a new species which is here described. 2. DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES Heliotropium thermophilum Kit Tan, A. Çelik & Y. Gemici, sp. nova (Fig. 1). A H. hirsutissimo differt corolla majore omnino (nec tan- tum fauce) aureo-lutea, faucis squamis hirsutis fere duplo quam latis longioribus, inflorescentia laxa et post anthesin non distincte elongata, pilis patentibus longioribus, setis scabris basi bulbosa aucta, pollinis granis majoribus. A H. suaveolente (interdum H. hirsutissimo commutata) differt stigmate glaberrimo et corollis sine faucis squamis. TYPE: Turkey C2 Aydın/Denizli: 20 km from Denizli to Buharkent, geothermal valley of Kızıldere Power Plant, damp and muddy places with ground temperatures of 55–65  C, 220 m, 15.VIII.2004, A. Çelik 4322 (holotype PAU!; isotype AKDU! C! EGE! herb. Kit!). Paratypes: loc. ibid., 22.VIII.2007, Y. Gemici 20000 (EGE!); loc. ibid., 17.IX.2007, H. Yıldırım 1392 (EGE!). (AKDU and PAU are the unofficial acronyms for the Turkish herbaria of Akdeniz University and Pamukkale University, respectively.) 132 Adv. Sci. Lett. Vol. 1, No. 1, 2008 1936-6612/2008/1/132/008 doi:10.1166/asl.2008.003