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 o f this section except C. pterocaulos are endemic to Iran. Comparative anatomy o f the leaf (except C. olivieri and C. alfredii) and stem (some o f the species) o f the species o f the section Serratuloideae is presented. Stem structure, with the exception o f some minor differences, was the same for all the species. Most variation belonged to leaves and the structure o f their midrib. It is therefore, easy to distinguish species, on the basis o f these structural characteristics. The coloured photographs for each species and an indentification key based on the anatomical characteristics is presented.