Noccaea bulutii (Brassicaceae): a new species from northeast Anatolia

Noccaea bulutii is described as a new species from Artvin, in NE Anatolia. It resembles N. phyrgia, N. aptera, N. kovatsii and N. ochroleuca, but easily distinguished from all these species by its dentate basal leaves and elongated sterile shoots. Phylogenetic analyses using the nuclear-encoded ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region placed N. bulutii and closely related species in a large polytomic clade, but none of these species formed a subclade with N. bulutii, demonstrating that these species are clearly distinct from each other. The species is described with diagnostic characters, detailed photographs, and taxonomic comments provided. The morphological similarities and ITS-based phylogenetic relationships of the new species are discussed. Additionally, due to species' habitat covers less than 20 km² and there are no immediate threats, the IUCN Red List category for N. bulutii is proposed as Vulnerable (D2).