A new subspecies of Saxifraga artvinensis VAMatthews (Saxifragaceae) from northeastern Anatolia

Saxifraga artvinensis V.A.Matthews, which is endemic to Turkey, was discovered on Tiryal Mountain (A8 Artvin, northeastern Turkey). Approximately 175 km from its type locality, a new population of the species was discovered, in the Picea orientalis forest in the Altindere Valley National Park, in A7 Trabzon (northeastern Turkey). A comparison with the known population of S. artvinensis confirmed that this new population represented a new taxon and is described as S. artvinensis subsp. meryemii Terzioglu & Coskunc. An identification key and comparison with closely related taxa, based on both morphological and molecular properties, are also provided. 'I he studied samples, belonging to subsp. artvinensis and subsp. meryemii, had identical sequences in the entire internal transcribed spacer region. On the other hand, subsp. meryemii was easily distinguishable from subsp. artvinensis by its hairy flowering stem, 3-8 flowers, subsessile pedicels, and sepals hairy at base.