ANATOMY-TAXONOMY STUDIES OF THE SPECIES OF SECTION SERRATULOIDEAE (COUSINIA, COMPOSITAE) IN IRAN

Cousinia section Serratuloideae has 14 species in Iran including two new species “C. sheidaiana and C. elburzensis” to be described and one transfered species “C. adenostegia”. All species of this section except C. pterocaulos are endemic to Iran. Comparative anatomy of the leaf (except C. olivieri and C. alfredii) and stem (some of the species) of the species of the section Serratuloideae is presented. Stem structure, with the exception of some minor differences, was the same for all the species. Most variation belonged to leaves and the structure of their midrib. It is therefore, easy to distinguish species, on the basis of these structural characteristics. The coloured photographs for each species and an indentification key based on the anatomical characteristics is presented.