Atsuko Takano

Salvia is a taxonomically challenging genus in the Japanese archipelago, comprising 12 distinct species, eight of which are endemic. In this study, the nutlet micromorphology of 19 taxa (species and varieties) assigned to the sections Glutinaria , Heterosphace , Notiosphace , and Sobiso was investigated using light and scanning electron microscopy. This study aimed to evaluate the systematic significance of nutlet morphology in Japanese Salvia . Nutlet size ranged from 0.64 × 0.45 mm in S. plebeia (sect. Notiosphace ) to 3.27 × 2.27 mm in S. koyamae (sect. Glutinaria ). The L/W ratio varied from 1.06 in S. glabrescens var. repens (sect. Glutinaria ) to 2.54 in S. pygmaea var. pygmaea (sect. Sobiso ). Nutlet shapes were elliptic, narrow-elliptic, and ellipsoidal in sect. Sobiso ; ovoid to obovoid and spherical in sect. Glutinaria ; and ovoid in both sect. Heterosphace and sect. Notiosphace . Abscission scar morphology varied among the sections, being squarish, triangular, irregular, or orbicular in sect. Sobiso ; irregular to orbicular in sect. Glutinaria ; orbicular in sect. Heterosphace ; and triangular in sect. Notiosphace . Four major types of surface sculpturing were recognized: colliculate with irregular surface cells in sect. Glutinaria ; reticulate with pentagonal to hexagonal cells in sect. Sobiso ; tuberculate with large rounded knobs in sect. Heterosphace ; and verrucate with small wart-like projections in sect. Notiosphace . Principal component analysis (PCA) based on taxon means demonstrated that nutlet size-related characters contributed most strongly to the observed variation among the studied taxa. Overall, the diversity of nutlet morphology highlights the diagnostic value of these characters for taxonomic identification at both the species and sectional levels within Japanese Salvia .

Astragalus nasirii is described and illustrated here as a new species from Tehsil Utman Khel in Bajaur District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Morphologically, the species closely resembles A. flemingii but can be distinguished by its longer leaves bearing 13–32 pairs of ovate to narrowly elliptic leaflets with obtuse to slightly retuse apices, calyx sparsely pilose with narrow to broadly triangular teeth, a long‐stipitate ovary, broadly ellipsoid legumes with a stipe up to 5 mm, and markedly larger seeds. In addition to morphological, palynological, and seed micromorphological evidence, phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear ITS and plastid psbA–trnH sequences were conducted. The results recovered A. nasirii within Astragalus sect. Caprini , showing close affinity with A. flemingii . The distribution, morphological comparison with closely related species, illustrations, and conservation status of the new species are also presented.