Allied section and emended description of Scorzonera helodes Rech.f. (Asteraceae)

The type specimen of Scorzonera helodes Rech.f. was collected by Rechinger, the Austrian botanist in 1974 from the high mountain wet meadows between Daran and Buin in Esfahan. At the same time and on the same trip, another specimen was collected by the Finnish botanist, Alava, from the same place. 38 years later in 2012, another specimen of the species was collected by Maroofi, the Iranian botanist, from Kharke on the road from Sanandaj to Divandareh in Kurdistan Province. All of these specimens lack ripened achenes (which is necessary for accurate identification and determination of the sections in the genus). The section of the species was not specified when it was introduced by Rechinger (1977). Finally, in 2015, the second author collected several standard specimens with ripened achenes from an area around Tazeh-kand-e Fakhrilou village in Zanjan Province, NW Iran. By extensive and detailed examination of the specimens, the authors came to the conclusion that these specimens are Scorzonera helodes Rech.f. and belong to Subgen. Scorzonera Sect. Dimorphopapposa Lipsch. In addition, here the description of the species is emended.