Acanthophyllum mucronatum
Acanthophyllum mucronatum is a subshrub in the pink family, Caryophyllaceae. Its native range extends from eastern Türkiye through the Caucasus to Iran and southern Turkmenistan. The name was published by Carl Anton von Meyer in 1831.[1]
Names and classification
A 2011 revision of Iranian Acanthophyllum placed Acanthophyllum microcephalum Boiss. in synonymy with A. mucronatum.[2] Kew's current checklist follows this treatment. The name A. microcephalum, published in 1843, therefore leads here rather than to a second species account.[1]
Not all subsequent studies used that classification. A Turkish pollen study published in 2016 examined material labelled A. mucronatum and A. microcephalum separately. Its findings should be read with that difference in taxonomic treatment in mind.[3]
Pollen
In the material identified as A. mucronatum, the 2016 study found nearly spherical pollen grains, averaging about thirty micrometres across. They had several pores distributed over the surface and minute spine-like projections on their outer walls. These microscopic observations describe the sampled material, rather than an identification key for all plants now included under the broader species name.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. “Acanthophyllum mucronatum”. Plants of the World Online. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ Basiri Esfahani, S. H. and colleagues (2011). “A taxonomic study of Acanthophyllum C. A. Mey. (Caryophyllaceae) in Iran”. Iranian Journal of Botany 17, 24–39; indexed abstract. Accessed 9 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bülbül, A. S. and Varlık, K. (2016). “Monitoring of Pollen Micromorphology of Acanthophyllum C. A. Mey. (Caryophyllaceae) Genus from Central Anatolian in Turkey”. Journal of Applied Biological Sciences 10(3), 13–19; species treatment and tables 2–3. Accessed 9 October 2026.