Puccinellia poecilantha (Poaceae) in Iran

Abstract

Puccinellia is one of the most taxonomically difficult grass genera in the Poeae tribe. The genus is represented by ten species in Iran confined mainly to saline habitats. Based on new collections from northeast Iran, we verify P. poecilantha as occurring in Iran. The specimen identified as P. poecilantha in the Flora Iranica was misidentified, and is corrected to P. gigantea.  Puccinellia poecilantha differs from P. bulbosa and P. gigantea, the two most morphologically similar species in Iran, by shape and sizes of their lemmas and glumes, and indumentum. Anatomical features of P. poecilantha are discussed and a distribution map for the new record is provided.