''Cephalaria anatolica'' is a

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

species of

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

in the family

Caprifoliaceae The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species in 33 to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and easte ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to eastern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. This slender

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herb grows up to 1 metre tall with branching stems that have fine, downward-pointing hairs on their lower portions. It features distinctively variable leaves that are either simple or deeply divided into feather-like segments, and produces egg-shaped flower heads with yellow

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s from June to July. First described in 1970, the species is restricted to rocky slopes, stony ground, and roadsides at elevations between 900 and 1100 metres. Its limited distribution, covering less than 500 km² across no more than five localities, has led to its classification as

according to

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

criteria.

Description

''Cephalaria anatolica'' is a slender, upright

herb reaching up to 1 m tall. The stem branches from near the base and has a coating of fine, downward-pointing hairs on its lower sections, becoming smooth and hairless toward the upper portions. The leaves are somewhat leathery and consistently hairy across their surfaces. They vary in shape depending on their position along the stem. The lower leaves are either (undivided) or deeply divided into segments resembling a feather (). Simple leaves at the base are narrow, lance-shaped (, measuring 3–12 cm long by 0.4–0.9 cm wide, with pointed tips. Pinnatisect lower leaves are lance-shaped overall, measuring 5–16 cm long by 1.5–4 cm wide, typically with 10–12 smaller lance-shaped or rectangular segments along each side. The segment at the tip of these divided leaves is larger than the others, broadly lance-shaped to somewhat egg-shaped, measuring 1.5–4 cm by 0.7–1.5 cm. The leaves higher up the stem are smaller, narrower, and similarly divided into 8–10 segments, each segment linear to lance-shaped. At the very top of the stem, leaves are simple, narrow, and directly attached without stalks, measuring just 0.4–3 cm by 0.1–0.2 cm. The flower heads () are egg-shaped, measuring 1–1.5 cm across when flowering and shrinking slightly to 0.7–1.2 cm when fruiting. Each flower head is surrounded by overlapping scales called

involucral bracts In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also look ...

, which are egg-shaped, straw-coloured with occasional pale reddish-brown markings, hairy surfaces, and tiny hairs along their margins. Inside the flower head, receptacular bracts (scales supporting individual flowers) are elongated, straw-coloured at the base and reddish-brown towards the tip, also hairy and with margins fringed by tiny hairs, gradually tapering to a sharp point. Each flower has a small, cup-shaped measuring 2–3 mm across, with irregularly toothed edges. The petals form a yellow corolla 8–13 mm long, densely covered with soft, close-lying hairs on the outside. The —a small structure enclosing the developing fruit—is four-angled, 4–6 mm long, hairy, and has eight very small, equal-sized teeth at the tip. The flowering period of ''Cephalaria anatolica'' occurs from June to July, with fruits developing from July to August.

Distribution

It is an endemic species to

. ''Cephalaria anatolica'' grows on rocky slopes, stony ground, and along roadsides at elevations ranging from 900 to 1100 metres. The species is restricted specifically to the eastern

region, and belongs to the Irano-Turanian floristic group. Due to its limited distribution—occupying an area smaller than 500 km² and found in no more than five distinct localities—it has been assessed as

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

(EN) according to the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

criteria B2ab(i,ii,iv).

Taxonomy

The species was first described by the Soviet botanist Anna Schchian in: ''Zam. Sist. Geogr. Rast''. 28: 26. in 1970.

Chemistry

The aerial parts of ''Cephalaria anatolica'' contain a range of

secondary metabolite Secondary metabolites, also called ''specialised metabolites'', ''secondary products'', or ''natural products'', are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, archaea, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved ...

s, particularly two previously unknown

triterpene Triterpenes are a class of terpenes composed of six isoprene units with the molecular formula C30H48; they may also be thought of as consisting of three terpene units. Animals, plants and fungi all produce triterpenes, including squalene, the pre ...

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

s named cephosides B and C, along with eleven other known compounds. These compounds belong to a class known as

saponin Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high molecular weight. They are present ...

s, which are natural substances found in many plants with potential biological effects.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15394502 anatolica Endemic flora of Turkey Plants described in 1970