Contribution to the flora of Asian and European countries: new national and regional vascular plant records, 4

Abstract The paper presents new records for 20 vascular plant species from 13 Eurasian countries. Four taxa (Calamagrostis sichuanensis, Klasea dissecta, Ptilagrostis milleri and Stipa klimesii) are reported from China, four (Aconogonon valerii, Carex siderosticta, Poa tanfiljewii and Potamogeton × subobtusus) from Russia, three (Amorpha fruticosa, Carduus acanthoides and Plantago minuta) from Tajikistan, two (Achillea sergievskiana and Delphinium barlykense) from Kazakhstan, one (Calamagrostis effusiflora) from Bhutan and India, one (Campanula wolgensis) from Mongolia, one (Orobanche coerulescens) from Georgia, two (Dysphania geoffreyi and Ptilagrostis milleri) from Nepal, one (Stipa × alaica) from Afghanistan, one (Stipa × manrakica) from Kyrgyzstan, one (Ranunculus × gluckii) from Poland and one (Sporobolus cryptandrus) from Italy. Four of the taxa presented (Amorpha fruticosa, Carduus acanthoides, Carex siderosticta and Sporolobus cryptandrus) are regarded as alien to the studied areas, whereas the remaining 16 are native elements to the flora of the countries. For each species synonyms, general distribution, habitat preferences, taxonomy with remarks on recognition and differentiation of the species from the most similar taxa occurring in a given country, as well as a list of recorded localities (often far from the previously known areas) are presented. Based on the spikelet morphology, we have proposed in Ptilagrostis a new section Barkworthia M. Nobis, A. Nobis & A. Nowak, which comprises two species Ptilagrostis yadongensis and Ptilagrostris milleri, with distinctly unequal glumes, lemmas and paleas.


Introduction
The paper is the continuation of the previous works dedicated to new national and regional vascular plant records (Nobis, Ebel et al. 2014;. Although, it might seem that the distribution of vascular plants in Eurasia is sufficiently recognized, there are still many regions where new plant species are encountered. During field exploration across the vast area of European and Asian countries as well as during taxonomic revisions of herbaria materials of different groups of vascular plants, the authors found some species that are new to the floras of particular countries or to significant regions (provinces or republics). The The species is not listed in recent reviews of the Siberian flora (Tupitzyna 1992;Doronkin 2003) although it was mentioned for East Siberia by Tzvelev (1989). Later record for Siberia is based on Tzvelev's information (Peschkova 2005). In all these publications no specific location in Siberia was given.
During taxonomical revision of Polygonaceae housed in several Russian herbaria, I found some specimens of Aconogonon valerii collected in East Siberia (including several in LE determined by N. Tzvelev).

Taxonomic notes
Genus Aconogonon (Meissn.) Reichenb. (=Polygonum L. sect. Aconogonon Meissn.) comprises 20 to 35 species of perennial herbaceous plants distributed mainly in Asia; only a few species are native to Europe and North America (e.g. Tzvelev 1996;Hinds and Freeman 2005). Aconogonon valerii is similar to Eurasian species Aconogonon alpinum (All.) Schur, but differs from the latter by dense and long (1-3 mm) trichomes on stem internodes and sheaths (at least on the lower ones), and also by yellowish-white or greenish-white flowers. In contrast, A. alpinum has glabrous internodes (sometimes the lower ones with short trichomes c. 0.5 mm) and white flowers. Additionally, the leaves of A. valerii have very short petioles (< 0.5 mm long) and blades with plain margins, whereas leaf petioles of A. alpinum are 0.5-1.5 mm long and blade margins are more or less undulate. Individuals of A. valerii are often tall (up to 1.5 m) and branched. Hence, they can be confused with another Asiatic species, Aconogonon divaricatum (L.) Nakai ex Mori. Nevertheless, the latter taxon has glabrous stem, narrower leaf blades, and longer fruits (1.5-2 times as long as perianth).

Distribution and habitat
Amorpha fruticosa is a species native to North America. However, as an ornamental plant it has been cultivated worldwide and is regarded as a noxious weed in Australia, southern Europe, southern and eastern Asia, Africa and Canada (GRIN 2015;Goncharov 1978;Weber 2003;eFlora 2015). It is a plant with relatively narrow ecological amplitude. Within both its native and its secondary range, it prefers river banks or island habitats and grows on river gravel deposits forming a dense thicket or contributing to riverside shrubby or woody vegetation (Weber 2003).
In the former Soviet Union the species was reported generally from the Caucasus and European and Middle Asian parts of the country. The species has been introduced as a decorative plant (Komarov and Shishkin 1945). Amorpha fruticosa is another established new species found recently in Tajikistan (Nobis and Nowak 2011;Nobis 2011;Nobis, Nowak, and Nobis 2013;Nowak et al. 2013;Nobis, Ebel et al. 2014;). However, it was noted earlier in this country as an alien species cultivated in gardens (Goncharov 1978). The population of the species occurs on gravel deposits of the Kafirnighon River near to Chimteppa village (approx. 15 km from Dushanbe). The population consists of dozens of individuals growing in shrubby vegetation with domination of Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. accompanied by Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv., Calamagrostis pseudophragmites (Hall. f.) Koel., Salix capusii Franch. and Glycyrrhiza glabra L. Contributor -Beata Paszko Distribution and habitat Calamagrostis effusiflora was described by Rendle (in Forbes and Hemsley 1904, 392) from Sichuan (China) based on Rockhill's collection housed at Kew herbarium. Previously, this species was known only from China, where it was recorded in Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and Zhejiang (Lu, Chen, and Phillips 2006). During revision of Himalayan collections of the genus at BM and E, C. effusiflora was noted for the first time for western Bhutan (in the vicinity of Chapcha in the botanical district of Thimpu; see the map on inside of covers of the Flora of Bhutan, Noltie 2000) and western Arunachal Pradesh (in the vicinity of Senge Dzong in the Se La Range), northeastern India. Both collections were previously misidentified as Calamagrostis nagarum (Bor) G. Singh (Noltie 2000) or Calamagrostis elatior (Griseb.) A. Camus. Calamagrostis effusiflora grows in China in wet places, especially along riverbanks at elevations of 600-2900 m (Lu, Chen, and Phillips 2006). In Bhutan as well as in northeast India it was collected at medium elevations (Bhutan -2400 m, Arunachal Pradeshbetween 2400 and 2750 m

Taxonomic notes
Calamagrostis Adans. (including Deyeuxia Clarion ex Beauv.), of which the species are distributed globally, is polyphyletic. Sequence data from the nuclear ribosomal regions (internal and external transcribed spacer) revealed that Eurasian species of Deyeuxia and Calamagrostis are closely related and are part of the Agrostidinae lineage. Therefore, they should be treated as synonyms (Saarela et al. 2010(Saarela et al. , 2014J. Saarela, unpubl.). In the present work a more broadly defined concept of the genus Calamagrostis is applied, in accordance with the molecular evidence.

Distribution and habitat
Calamagrostis sichuanensis was collected and described by Yang (1983) based on a collection from Wenchuan County in Central Sichuan, China (holotype: SAU, isotype: CDBI0152884!). This species is only found in China, where it was recorded from Sichuan and Gansu provinces (Lu, Chen, and Phillips 2006). An on-going revision of Calamagrostis (including Deyeuxia) for the Flora of Pan-Himalayas showed that C. sichuanensis is confined to southwestern China. We have not found any specimens of this species from Gansu, leaving its occurrence there in doubt. Calamagrostis sichuanensis occurs in Sichuan, in its western (Dawu, Sertar) and northwestern parts (Barkam, Hongyuan, Songpan, Wenchuan, Xiaojin and Zamtang). Specimens have been found that document its first record in eastern Xizang, where it is recorded from the Markam County. It was collected on the steep canyon slopes of Ningjing Shan (Markam Shan). The first collections of C. sichuanensis were made in Sichuan by the Swedish botanist Karl August Harald (Harry) Smith (Herner 1988). He collected it in two Sichuan counties, in 1922 in the Songpan County (Chun-che, H. Smith 4123, PE, S, UPS) and in 1934 in the Dawu County (between Ngata and Taofu (Dawu), H. Smith 12013, PE, S). Thirteen known localities of C. sichuanensis are in areas of the Hengduan Mountains of the Eastern Himalayas. The species seems to be endemic to the Hengduan Mountain Region. It has a similar distribution pattern to Calamagrostis yanyuanensis J.L. Yang (Nobis, Ebel, et al. 2014).

Taxonomic notes
Calamagrostis sichuanensis is a distinct species characterized by callus hairs as long as the lemma; lemmas awned from near middle; awns straight, c. 1.2 mm long and not exserted from spikelets; and anthers c. 1 mm long (Yang 1983;Lu, Chen, and Phillips 2006 Contributor -Aleksandr L. Ebel

Distribution and habitat
The area of Campanula wolgensis extends from the Volga Hills to the Altai Mountains and the easternmost part of the northern Tien Shan Mountains (Smirnov 1947;Terekhova 1965;Lavrenko, Karamysheva, and Nikulina 1991). The species occurs in Russia (including the southeast of the European part of Russia, South Ural and the southern part of West Siberia) and in several regions of Kazakhstan (Krylov 1949;Fedorov 1957Fedorov , 1978Terekhova 1965). Its distribution is connected with the forest-steppe zone, mainly in the Zavolzhye-Kazakhstan steppe province (Lavrenko, Karamysheva, and Nikulina 1991), where it grows in steppes, steppe meadows and in birch forest outliers. In the eastern and southern part of its distribution area (from the Altai Mountains to Kungei Ala-Tau in north Tien-Shan), it usually grows in mountain steppes and in high-mountain low-herb steppe meadows, sometimes achieving rather high altitudes (e.g. up to 2000 m above sea level in Chuya river basin and on plateau Ukok in Russian Altai).
Campanula wolgensis is a new native species for Mongolia not recorded in this country before (Gubanov 1996;Urgamal et al. 2014).

Taxonomic notes
Campanula wolgensis belongs to a complex of related taxa sometimes integrated under the name Campanula stevenii M. Bieb. s.l. (e.g. Victorov 2002). At least two taxa of this complex, namely Campanula steveni s.str. and Campanula beauverdiana Fomin (=C. steveni subsp. beauverdiana (Fomin) Rech. f. & Schiman-Czeika) occur in the Caucasus and adjacent territories of South-West Asia (Fedorov 1957;Victorov 2002;Oganesian 2008). Campanula steveni and C. wolgensis are similar to each other in having plain narrow calyx lobes (usually not more than 1 mm wide) pointed at the top and glabrous throughout. Nevertheless, C. wolgensis differs significantly from C. stevenii by quite short and wide obconic calyx tube while flowering (versus narrow cylindrical tube in C. stevenii). Another Eurasian species, Campanula altaica Ledeb. (=C. stevenii subsp. altaica (Ledeb.) Fed.), has on average larger flowers (2-3 cm long) than C. wolgensis (1-2 cm long) and concave, considerably wider sepals (2-3 mm wide at base) bent on their top and bearing there a tuft of short trichomes. There are also two Asian species belonging to this complex. Campanula stevenii has been reported from China (Hong, Lammers, and Klein 2011) and Campanula alberti Trautv. [=C. stevenii subsp. alberti (Trautv.) Victorov] an endemic to Tien-Shan, is a petrophilous plant with large rhizome forming many one-flowered shoots with very narrow leaves. Another taxon, mainly Siberian high-mountainous Campanula turczaninovii Fed. (=C. stevenii subsp. turczaninovii (Fed.) Victorov) is similar to C. altaica in the length of corolla, which howewer is narrowly funnel-shaped and not deeply divided into ciliated lobes.

Distribution and habitat
The species is widespread in southern Europe and in Asia Minor. In the territory of the former USSR it occurs from the European part and the Caucasus to Western Siberia (Tamamshyan 1963). As an alien plant, it is noted also in northwestern Russia (Tzvelev 2000), Perm Territory (Ovesnov 2007), Chelyabinsk Region (Kulikov 2010), Far East Russia (Barkalov 1992), China Greuter 2011), Kazakhstan (Ebel at al. 2015) and Kyrgyzstan .
Carduus acanthoides is a new, alien species to the flora of Tajikistan. It fairly frequently grows in anthropogenic habitats and is recorded mostly on roadsides and footpaths in villages. The species is most frequent in Tajikistan, but was missed in the floristic studies to date.

Taxonomic notes
The genus Carduus comprised seven species in the flora of Tajikistan (Rasulova and Sharipova 1991). Three additional taxa listed in the flora of Tajikistan, namely Carduus songoricus Tamamsch., Carduus coloratus Tamamsch. and Carduus schischkinii Tamamsch are recently regarded as conspecific with Carduus nutans L. (Czerepanov 1995;.
Carduus acanthoides is light green or bluish green plant with concolorous and hardly cobwebby leaves, major leaves and wing with 3-6 mm-long pungent spines.

Distribution and habitat
Carex siderosticta is a species native to eastern Asia being under the influence of a monsoon climate, namely Japan, Korea, eastern China and the southern part of the Russian Far East (Egorova 1999;Dai et al. 2010). It grows under the canopy of needle-leaved and broadleaved mixed forests and at forest margins in moist shady habitats. In the mid-1970s it was introduced as part of an exposition about the Russian Far East in seminatural forest situated on the territory that formally belonged to the Central Siberian Botanical Garden (Novosibirsk). Since that time, it has spread along small trails into the nearest forests. Recently there are at least four small populations at a distance of a few hundred metres from the initial spot as well as from each other. All clones were formed as a result of vegetative growth, but due to the small distance from each other, pollen exchange among populations cannot be excluded. Plants bloom and have fruits every year, but until now there is no evidence for seed germination.
Carex siderosticta is a new, alien species in the flora of Siberia. It could become a potentially invasive plant especially in the anthropogenically disturbed forests near big cities in South Siberia. Thanks to the shade tolerance and active spreading, the species could be very successful in its competition with the native forest species.

Taxonomic notes
Carex siderosticta belongs to the section Siderostictae Franch. ex Ohwi (subgenus Carex), and differs considerably from all Siberian species of the genus Carex L. by broad-lanceolate leaf blades 2-2.5 cm wide (Egorova, 1999). Members of the section Siderostictae are characterized by their unique morphological and cytological features such as shoots divided into reproductive and vegetative ones, broadly lanceolate leaf blades (Egorova 1999), and the lowest chromosome number (2n = 12). Based on morphological and cytological features the section is thought to be an ancestral group in the genus Carex (Egorova 1999;Yano et al. 2014). Carex siderosticta has an intraspecific polyploidy (2n = 12 and 24) and is supposed to be an autopolyploid (Tanaka 1940). Tetraploid plants of C. siderosticta are widely distributed in East Asia (Yano et al. 2014

Distribution and habitat
Delphinium barlykense was described from Tyva (Lomonosova and Khanminchun 1985). Later, the taxon was recorded in Mongolia (Gubanov 1996) and in the Russian Altai Mts (Ebel 2008). It is a mountain species growing on rocks, stony slopes as well as on stony and gravelly stream sides in mountains.
Delphinium barlykense is a new native species for the flora of Kazakhstan. It was collected in the eastern part of the country, namely in the Dzungarian Alatau and Altai, Saur-Tarbagatai Mountains. It probably occurs also in China (northwest Xingjian), in Chinese parts of the above-mentioned mountain systems.
Taxonomic notes Delphinium barlykense belongs to the Delphinium cheilanthum Fisch. ex DC complex. Delphinium cheilanthum is a widely distributed species in Asian Russia, Mongolia and in some Chinese provinces (Gubanov 1996;Wencai and Warnock 2001). The southern and western range limit of D. cheilanthum is still unclear. Specimens from Kazakhstan, previously identified as D. cheilanthum (Gamayunova 1961;Abdulina 1999), turned out to be Delphinium sajanense Yurtz. (Nobis, Ebel et al. 2014) and D. barlykense.
Delphinium barlykense is probably of hybrid origin (D. cheilanthum × D. sajanense). It has relatively high and glabrous stems as well as a lax inflorescence, which are typical of D. cheilanthum, whereas the presence of glandular trichomes on leaves, pedicels and sepals place it close to D. sajanense.  (Sukhorukov, Zhang, and Kushunina 2015) and is known from east Himalaya and southwest Tibet (Bhutan and China). It grows in various plant communities in grassy hill slopes, river valleys or disturbed sites at altitudes of 2500-4200 m above sea level.
A new record for the flora of Nepal and Central Himalaya was revealed during revision of herbarium specimens at the BM.

Taxonomic notes
The genus Dysphania is the core genus of the tribe Dysphanieae (Pax) Pax with labile taxonomic position within Caryophyllaceae (Pax 1928) or Chenopodiaceae [as a part of Chenopodium sensu lato (e.g. Scott 1978)]. The results of both molecular and carpological investigations confirm its placement within the Chenopodiaceae-Amaranthaceae alliance (Kadereit et al. 2003;Sukhorukov and Zhang 2013). However, the representatives of the tribe Dysphanieae are different from other Chenopodioideae in fruit characters [subspherical fruits with very thin pericarp, thin seedcoat testa with no deposition of the tannin-like substances ].
The core genus Dysphania comprises about 50 taxa distributed worldwide. At present, the Himalayas and Tibet are considered as the territories with the greatest taxonomic diversity of the genus, and eight native species were reinstated or described in the last decade (Sukhorukov 2012;. Dysphania members in Eurasia are especially difficult to identify because of the similarity of their morphology. Recently, the most taxonomically valuable traits were discovered to be: surface of perianth and pericarp, seed diameter (for more see Sukhorukov 2012Sukhorukov , 2014Uotila 2013;. Dysphania geoffreyi is distinguished from other Eurasian and African species of the genus by diverse indumentum types on the perianth (densely arranged simple and bi-or tri-furcate stout hairs, subsessile glands and scattered glandular hairs) and smallest seeds (of 0.5-0.6 mm across). Contributors -Aleksandr L. Ebel, Andrey N. Kupriyanov

Distribution and habitat
Klasea dissecta was described from Kazakhstan and is considered to be an endemic of this country (Terekhova 1966). It is widely distributed in central (Kazakh Upland) and eastern Kazakhstan (from Dzungarian Alatau in the south to Zaissan Depression and southern Altai in the north). It grows in deserts and dry steppes, usually on places with a high content of calcium or on egresses of tertiary clays (Terekhova 1966;Karamysheva and Rachkovskaya 1973). Recently it was described from northwest Xinjiang in China (Martins 2006;Zhu and Martins 2011) but no specific location was published.
As a result of the revision of herbarium materials belonging to Jurinea Cass. in TK, we discovered two sheets with K. dissecta collected by Sapozhnikov during his travels to West Mongolia and adjacent territories at the beginning of the twentieth century. Analysis of Sapozhnikov's routes described by him in details (Sapozhnikov 1911) shows that these plants were collected on the territory of China. Unfortunately, both gatherings were misidentified as Jurinea polyclonos DC. and have been stored under that name for a long time.
Klasea dissecta is a native and rare species in China, probably restricted there to the regions adjacent to Kazakhstan.

Taxonomic notes
Klasea was traditionally treated as a section in Serratula L., but is now widely accepted at the generic level (Martins 2006). Klasea dissecta belongs to sect. Klasea, which comprises c. 10 species distributed in the temperate zone in Asia, southern Europe and northwestern Africa; however, most taxa within the genus occur in Asia (Martins 2006). Klasea dissecta differs from the other central Asian species of the section by having acuminate middle phyllaries with straight apical spinule 2.5-5 mm long, and glandular leaf blade with minute sessile glands.

Distribution and habitat
Orobanche coerulescens is an Eurasian species. Its range extends from eastern Germany through Eastern Europe and central Asia to Japan (Pusch 2009). Its main habitats are the Artemisia steppes, rocky grasslands and sandy areas of Eurasia. This broomrape parasitizes mainly Artemisia spp. The species is currently recognized as extinct in many stations at the western limit of its distribution range; however, some new stations of the species have also recently been found (Piwowarczyk and Przemyski 2009;Piwowarczyk 2012).
From the Caucasus, Orobanche coerulescens was known only from Dagestan (Novopokrovskij and Tzvelev 1958). Recently, a new locality of this species has been found in the Lesser Caucasus in Georgia. It is a new native taxon to the flora of this country.

Taxonomic notes
In the flora of Georgia there are 33 holoparasites of the family Orobanchaceae: 28 species of Orobanche s.l., two of Cistanche Hoffmannsegg & Link and three of Diphelypaea Nicolson (Gagnidze 2005). The distribution of species from the genus Orobanche in this region is still not sufficiently known. Many of the reports require verification and field research in the Caucasus (Rätzel and Uhlich 2004;. Orobanche coerulescens was included in the section Orobanche (grex Coerulescentes Beck; Beck von Mannagetta 1930) or, according to the new classification, in the section Inflatae (Beck) Tzvelev, subsection Coerulescentes (Beck) Teryokhin (Teryokhin et al. 1993). This subsection comprises species requiring further research, poorly known, with unclear and disputed taxonomic position, often endemic, occurring mainly in eastern Asia. Among them, O. coerulescens has the widest range (Beck von Mannagetta 1930;Novopokrovskij and Tzvelev 1958;Teryokhin et al. 1993;Piwowarczyk, Madeja and Nobis 2015).
Orobanche coerulescens is quite easy to distinguish from related species from the Caucasus, because of the characteristic thick stem, numerous small, geniculately bent blue flowers, without bracteoles and strongly hairy stem and flowers. About six lower taxa, mainly based on the colour and length of the corolla or construction of the calyx, have been described within the species (Beck von Mannagetta 1930). Individuals with white-yellow flowers and stem have been recognized as f. korschinskyi (Novopokrovskij) Y. C. Ma. This taxon was raised to the rank of species Orobanche korshinskyi Novopokrovskij, but it is possibly only a colour variant of O. coerulescens (Novopokrovskij and Tzvelev 1958).

Plantago minuta Pall. (Plantaginaceae) Contributors -Arkadiusz Nowak, Marcin Nobis, Sylwia Nowak
Distribution and habitat Plantago minuta is known from the lower section of the Volga River, Caucasus, northern parts of Middle Asia, western China and Mongolia (Shishkin 1958). In Tajikistan, the species has not been reported; however, it was mentioned as probably occurring in the northern part of the country (Chukavina 1986). The closest location was known from the Turkestan Range in Kyrgyzstan (Chukavina 1986). According to literature data, P. minuta prefers halophyte river deposit habitats, sometimes gravel screes and sandy areas, rarely boggy places.
During the floristic research conducted in western Tajikistan in 2014, the species was found on the gravelbed on the right side of the Zeravshan River valley near Gusar village. It was found within shrubby vegetation of Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. with a considerable share of other species of the Nerio-Tamaricetea class like Halimodendron halodendron (Pall.) Voss, Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv, Eleagnus orientalis L. or Trachomitum scabrum (Russan.) Pobed.

Distribution and habitat
Poa tanfiljewii was described from fluvial sediments along the stream sides as well as from the rocks in Timansk tundra, the lower reach of the Pechora river in the European part of Russian Arctic (Roshevitz 1934). It was known as endemic to that area and the Polar Urals, but Tzvelev (1976) recorded it in the mountains of Southern Siberia: Altai, Angaro-Sayan and Dahuria. Recently, the species was found on the gravel banks along the brooks in the eastern part of Yt-Koel lake (plateau Putorana, Asian Arctic) where it has never been recorded before (Tzvelev 1976;Sekretaryova 2004;Pospelova and Pospelov 2007).

Taxonomic notes
Poa tanfiljewii belongs to section Stenopoa Dum, which is one of the most difficult taxonomically. Many species of this section hybridize easily and form complicated aggregates with obscure borders. Initially, Tzvelev (1964) considered P. tanfiljewii as very close to Poa nemoralis L. Later, the author treated it as a subspecies of Poa palustris L. (Tzvelev 1972) and finely, again as a species (Tzvelev, 1974(Tzvelev, , 1976. In fact, P. tanfiljewii is morphologically very similar to P. palustris and P. nemoralis. It seems to arise from hybridization between P. palustris and Poa glauca Vahl, with a contribution of P. nemoralis. The studies of northern and southern populations of similar bluegrasses with glabrous callus showed that southern ones are of local origin. They were described as Poa krylovii Reverd. (Reverdatto, 1936) and do not ressemble P. glauca at all, whereas the spikelets of a typical specimen of P. tanfiljewii are very similar to the P. glauca ones. Both populations, northern (P. tanfiljewii) and southern (P. krylovii) seem to be of different origin. In conclusion, only the samples found on Putorana Plateau, can be treated as P. tanfiljewii. Distribution and habitat Potamogeton ×subobtusus is a hybrid between the widespread boreal species Potamogeton alpinus Balb. and the temperate Potamogeton nodosus Poir. The parental species have different ecological preferences and only exceptionally grow together, therefore, P. × subobtusus belongs to the rarest pondweed taxa. The record reported here is the first for Russia and the third worldwide. Until now P. × subobtusus has only been known from North America (USA, the New York state) and Central Europe (Poland, Zalewska-Gałosz, Ronikier and Kaplan 2009). In the new locality, in Karelia (northwest of european Russia) P. × subobtusus cooccurs with P. alpinus whereas the second parental species has never been recorded in that area. Indeed, the current range of P. nodosus covers southern parts of Eurasia, below 55°N (Hagström 1916). The newly discovered population of P. × subobtusus has therefore a relict character with evidence of the northern occurrence of P. nodosus in warmer postglacial climatic optimums.
In the River Olonka P. × subobtusus was found in one stand covering 20 m 2 . It is very possible that the hybrid was more widespread along the river; however, its distribution has not been studied in detail. The hybrid grew in flowing water aside from the main flow, at a current velocity of 0.1-0.2 m/s and at a depth of 0.3-0.5 m, on a solid substrate with pebbles and boulders. Water sampled from the locality had very low mineralization (19 mg/l), neutral pH (pH 7) and was transparent but with brownish tinge (colority 200 degrees). The water was clean (oligo-β-mezosaprobic), quite oxygen-rich (85%), with a low content of organic matter (oligomezotrophic). Potamogeton × subobtusus co-occurred in the stand with submersed forms of Glyceria fluitans (L.) R. Br., Nuphar lutea (L.) Smith and parental Potamogeton alpinus. Submersed morphotype of Schoenoplectus lacustris (L.) Palla and river mosses Dichelyma falcatum (Hedw.) Myr., Fontinalis antipyretica L. ex Hedw., Hygrohypnella ochracea (Turn. ex Wils.) Ignatov et Ignatova and Leptodictyum riparium (Hedw.) Warnst. were also found at the locality.

Taxonomic notes
Potamogeton × subobtusus was described by J.O. Hagström (1916) based on E. Tuckerman material from the state of New York, USA. The correct taxonomic interpretation and lectotypification of the hybrid were made by Zalewska-Gałosz, Ronikier and Kaplan (2009).
Although some morphological characters can be helpful in the identification of P. × subobtusus, this hybrid belongs to Potamogeton taxa that are difficult to identify solely based on morphological grounds. In cases where morphological identification is inconclusive, any new record of a Potamogeton hybrid should be supported by anatomical study (if informative, see Wiegleb 1990; Zalewska-Gałosz 2011) and molecular evidence (Kaplan and Fehrer 2007;Zalewska-Galosz and Ronikier 2011). Identification of Potamogeton × subobtusus from the new locality was molecularly supported and the molecular evidence will be published soon.
The new record of P. × subobtusus complements the knowledge on Potamogeton diversity in rivers of northern European Russia where in total 12 Potamogeton species (excluding Stuckenia) and 12 interspecific hybrids have been recorded to date (Bobrov and Chemeris 2009;Bobrov, Zalewska-Gałosz and Chemeris 2013).

Distribution and habitat
To date Ptilagrostis milleri was known from Bhutan, India and Nepal (Noltie 2000;. During revision of herbarium materials, specimens of that species, previously determined as Ptilagrostis concinna Roshev. and collected from Xizang province in China as well as in northern Nepal were identified. The species occurs there in high mountain steppes, in subalpine shrubs and on rocky shelves and crevices, at elevations from 3500 to 4200 m. Ptilagrostis milleri is a new native species to the flora of China, whereas in Nepal it was found for the second time .
Section Barkworthia comprises only two species (P. yadongensis and P. milleri), which have distinctly unequal glumes as well as unequal lemmas and paleas. Whereas the section Ptilagrostis comprises all others species from the genus with subequal glumes as well as subequal lemmas and paleas.
Diagnosis. From the sect. Ptilagrostis it differs by having species with clearly unequal glumes (the lower 1.0-3.5 mm longer than the upper) as well as clearly unequal lemmas and paleas (lemma 0.5-1.5 mm longer than palea). . This is a new taxon to the flora of Afghanistan; however, a specimen of that taxon was mentioned by Freitag (1985) as representing probably S. alaica.

Taxonomic notes
Stipa × alaica originated from a hybridization between Stipa caucasica and Stipa turkestanica Hackel subsp. trichoides (P. Smirn.) Tzvel. (Nobis 2013). Its hybrid origin is indicated by the characters of the awn, which can be unigeniculate or indistinctly bigeniculate even in a single specimen as well as distinctly scabrous below geniculation (Nobis 2013 Distribution and habitat Stipa klimesii is known only from Jammu and Kashmir State in northern India (western Himalayas). The species occurs in high mountain steppes and alpine mats, between 4200 and 5100 m above sea level . During revision of herbarium materials, specimens of that species, previously determined as Stipa roborowskyi Roshev. and collected from Xizang province in China, were identified. The species occurs there in high mountains steppes, subalpine shrubs and on rocky shelves and crevices, at elevations from 3500 to 4200 m. Stipa klimesii is a new native species to the flora of China.
Based on variation in the pubescence of the sheaths of culm leaves, two varieties within S. klimesii can be distinguished: var. klimesii with glabrous sheaths of culm leaves, and var. pubescens M. Nobis with shortly pubescent sheaths of culm leaves . The revised specimens from China belong to both of the above-mentioned varieties.   (Kotukhov 2002;Nobis 2010Nobis , 2013. During field studies in Kyrgyzstan, the taxon was found at two localities in the eastern part of the country. This is a new taxon to the flora of Kyrgyzstan. Taxonomic notes Stipa × manrakica originated from the hybridization between Stipa caucasica Schmalh. and Stipa macroglossa P. A. Smirn. subsp. kazachstanica (Kotuch.) M. Nobis (Nobis 2013). Individuals of that taxon were found within populations of its parental species. The taxon is most similar to S. × alaica (Nobis 2013); however, S. × manrakica differs from the latter in the adaxial surface of vegetative shoots, which are covered by shorter hairs, and in having slightly longer awns, longer seta and wider blades of vegetative shoots (Nobis 2013). Stipa × manrakica is also similar to Stipa × talassica, however, S. × manrakica has a shorter awn and shorter hairs on the adaxial surface of leaves, without any admixture of long hairs (Nobis 2013 (Cook 1966;Vollrath and Kohler 1972). The hybrid was also reported from a few localities in the Upper Volga basin in Russia (Volkova, Abramova, and Bobrov 2014;Movergoz et al. 2014).
Based on herbarium data R. × gluckii may occur both in running and standing waters. Published information about habitat conditions of this hybrid is only fragmentary. In Germany, R. × gluckii was reported from a fish pond where it grew abundantly together with both parents and others Batrachium/Ranunculus hybrids (Vollrath and Kohler 1972). In the Upper Volga basin the hybrid occurred in disturbed habitats, e.g. river stretches near bridges and roads, bays of reservoir etc. (Bobrov 1999;Volkova, Abramova, and Bobrov 2014;Movergoz et al. 2014). The new locality of R. × gluckii was discovered in northeastern Poland, in the lower course of the Jarka River, between Marlinowo and Bronisze. The small, clonal colony of the hybrid was found in a slow-flowing, eutrophic lowland river, on a substrate consisting of silt and sand. The hybrid stand was noticed among Ranunculus trichophyllus Chaix, Nuphar lutea (L.) Sibth et Sm., Potamogeton alpinus Balb., Sagittaria sagittifolia L., Sparganium emersum Rehmann, and Veronica anagallis-aquatica L. Most of these species are typical to nutrient-rich river communities of the alliance Ranunculion fluitantis (Hatton-Ellis and Grieve 2003).

Taxonomic notes
Taxa belonging to Ranunculus sect. Batrachium are regarded as the most difficult aquatic plants to identify. Poorly distinguishable morphological characters are an interactive result of extreme phenotypic plasticity, welldeveloped polyploidy, hybridization and breeding systems where various types of sexual reproduction are combined (Cook 1966;Zalewska-Gałosz, Jopek, and Ilnicki 2015).
Ranunculus circinatus × R. trichophyllus depending on taxonomic approach is known as R. × gluckii A. Félix ex C. D. K. Cook or Batrachium × felixii Soó; however, its nomenclature is unclear and demands further clarification. It is a homophyllous, submersed macrophyte. Its morphological features can vary from those resembling R. circinatus to those similar to R. trichophyllus. Individuals from the Polish locality were only vegetative and morphologically uniform. All leaves resembled R. trichophyllus. Its capillary segments lay in different planes; however, their shape was close to circular and the middle lobe of the leaves was only slightly shorter than the lateral lobes. In many localities, the hybrid grows together with the parental species. In such cases, distinguishing between hybrid individuals and parental plants is straightforward through simple morphological comparison. Sometimes, R. × gluckii occurs independently, and then, it can be confused with R. circinatus or R. trichophyllus, depending on the particular morphological features expressed. When morphological features are not conclusive, molecular identification is desirable. Identification of individuals from the reported new locality was molecularly confirmed. A comprehensive study on nomenclature, morphology, biology and molecular identification of R. circinatus × R. trichophyllus is in progress (J. Zalewska-Gałosz, A.A. Bobrov, M. Jopek and E.A. Movergoz, unpubl. results) Examined specimen (new record) POLAND: [NORTH-EASTERN POLAND] the river Jarka near the road bridge between Marlinowo and Bronisze, 54°15'52.7''N, 22°27'10.9''E, 30 July 2010, A. Pliszko (KRA).

Sporobolus cryptandrus (Torr.) A. Gray (Poaceae) Contributor -Filip Verloove
Distribution and habitat Sporobolus cryptandrus is a widespread species in North America, extending from Canada to Mexico. It grows in sandy soils and dry river beds, on rocky slopes and calcareous ridges, and along roadsides, in woodlands and in desert grasslands (Peterson, Hatch, and Weakley 2003). Although native, it is considered as an invasive and weedy species in some regions (Holm et al. 1979;Darbyshire 2003). Outside its native distribution range it is known from a single locality in New Zealand (Edgar and Connor 2000) as well as from Europe, where it has been associated, among others, with the wool and oil seed processing industries, for instance in Austria, the British Isles, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Switzerland (Holub and Jehlík 1987;Ryves, Clement, and Foster 1996). Although it remains an ephemeral alien in many cases it managed to naturalize locally. In Slovakia (Bratislava) it has been known since the 1970s; this apparently represents the first naturalized population in Europe (Holub and Jehlík 1987). In the 1990s, it was detected along the River Don close to Volgograd in Russia (Alekseev, Pavlov, and Sagalaev 1996) where it is now considered an invasive species (Sagalaev 2012). Since then it has been found growing in several localities in southern France (departments Gard, Herault and Vaucluse; see Tison, Jauzein, and Michaud 2014) and, in 2014, it was also recorded for the first time in Catalunya in northeastern Spain (comm. J. Font, November 2014).
In October 2012 S. cryptandrus was discovered in Monticelli d'Ongina (Isola Serafini) in Italy. About 40-50 individuals were found growing in several populations. By 2014, the species had much extended and now occurs locally in dense, nearly monospecific stands. The species inhabits more or less open, sandy deposits of fluvial origin that are only exceptionally flooded by the River Po. The plant cover is characterized by a rich psammophilous flora that is dominated by American therophytes such as Euphorbia glyptosperma Engelm. and Sporobolus vaginiflorus (Torr. ex Gray) Alph. Wood., but also by native Artemisia campestris L. Sporobolus cryptandrus is observed in both the open, sandy area as well as on the edge of the adjacent bushland. The area is highly affected by human disturbance, due mostly to the transit of motor vehicles and illegal dumping. However, the exact vector of introduction of the taxon remains unknown.
Sporobolus cryptandrus is obviously well-established in Monticelli d'Ongina and a future expansion to nearby suitable habitats is likely. It has not been recorded before from Italy.

Taxonomic notes
The plants from Monticelli d'Ongina were initially ascribed to the less widespread Sporobolus domingensis (Trin.) Kunth (Romani, Banfi, and Galasso 2014). The latter is a similar species that is found in the southeastern United States, extending to the Antilles and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico (Peterson, Hatch, and Weakley 2003). Sporobolus cryptandrus is distinguished from S. domingensis by its wider, more open inflorescence (2-14 cm wide versus contracted or even spike-like and 1-5 cm wide) with primary branches without spikelets on the lower 1/8-1/4 (versus spikeletbearing to the base) and by sheath apices with a conspicuous tuft of white hairs c. 4 mm long (these hairs absent or shorter in S. domingensis).