Artemisia persica Boiss.

4.Artemisia persicaBoiss. in Hohenacker, Pl. Pers. austr.: no. 630. 1845. Type. Iran • In media alpe Kuh-Daëna, 13 Jul 1842, Kotschy in Hohenacker, Pl. Pers. austr. no. 630 (lectotype, designated here, G [G 00764808!] (Fig. 4); isolectotypes: A [A 00002808!], C [C 10024705!, C 10024706!], CAS [BOT-BC: 1574153], E [E 00574754!], FI [FI 006525!], FR [FR 0030802!], GOET [GOET 001059!], H [H 1092660!], HAL [HAL 0111436!], JE [JE 00008339!], K [K 002718131!], L [L.3018755!], M [M 0030258!, M 0097247!], MO [MO-797676!, MO-2583784!], O [O-V-2017223!], P [P 00711973!, P 00711976!, P 00711982!, P 00711983!], S [S-G-657!], US [US 00324288!], WAG [WAG 0004199!, WAG 0004200!]). Note. Artemisia persica was validly published on the printed label of Kotschy’s specimen 238 630. Between 1841 and 1843, Kotschy carried out extensive plant collecting in Iran (Lack 2020); the material was subsequently organized and distributed commercially by the Esslingen plant dealer R. F. Hohenacker, with the species identifications on the labels provided by Boissier (Hohenacker 1845; Wörz 2016). This set of specimens was intended for commercial sale rather than being a standard exsiccata serving taxonomic or educational purposes, and it falls into the category of gray literature in a taxonomic sense (Sennikov and Belyaeva 2025). The printed label bears a short diagnosis of a new species, satisfying the requirements for valid publication under the Madrid Code (Turland et al. 2025). The label was distributed together with the specimens in 1845, predating Boissier’s later inclusion of the species in his monograph of new species from the Orient (Boissier 1846), and therefore, it was effectively published in 1845 under Arts. 6 and 30.8. The protologue itself is the printed label, which cites the gathering as “ In medio monte Kuh-Daëna. D. 13. Jul. 1842 ” — a locality corresponding to the central part of Kuh-e Dena (Kuh-e Dinar), a high massif in the central Zagros Mountains of present-day Fars Province, Iran — and provides a short diagnosis. No holotype was indicated; therefore, all specimens bearing this printed label constitute original material. Because Kotschy no. 630 was commercially distributed, its parts are deposited in several herbaria, including A, C, CAS, E, FI, FR, GOET, H, HAL, JE, K, L, M, MO, O, P, S, US, and WAG. All these specimens are duplicates of the same gathering and therefore constitute original material under Art. 9.6. Boissier’s personal herbarium is preserved in the collection “ Herbarium – Boissier’s Flora Orientalis (CJBG-G-BOIS) ” at the Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de Genève (G). Within this collection, the only original material of A. persica is G 00764808, which bears both the printed label that constitutes the protologue and a handwritten label. The printed label reads: “ Affinis A. Stechmannianae, sed ab ea receptaculo piloso, capitulis remotis, nec spicato-paniculatis, diversa. In medio monte Kuh-Daëna. D. 13. Jul. 1842. ” The handwritten label records the same collection information. Morphologically, the plant on the sheet has leaves that are 2–3 - pinnatisect, and the capitula are remote, not arranged in a spiciform panicle, which fully agrees with the diagnostic description on the label. The specimen is well preserved. Among the available original material, G 00764808 is selected as the lectotype because it is the specimen from Boissier’s personal herbarium, bears both the printed label that constitutes the protologue and a handwritten label, and has morphological characters that fully agree with the diagnostic description. It is the most complete and authoritative original element, directly linked to the author’s own collection and intent. The other duplicates are treated as isolectotypes. Accordingly, specimen G 00764808 is designated here as the lectotype of Artemisia persica. Taxonomic acceptance. Artemisia persica is currently accepted as a distinct species (POWO 2026).