Biosystematics research on some of Scandix L. (Apiaceae) species grown in Turkey

Scandix L. genus belonging to Scandiceae subtribe of Apiaceae family is represented by nine taxons while eight of them are species in the Flora of Turkey. S. balansae Reuter ex. Boiss. is the only endemic species of the genus. In this study, a research based on biosystematics was targeted on the species of the genus using morphologic, morphometric, anatomic, palynological, chemical and molecular methods. Other than the identified characters of the Scandix species belongs to medical-aromatic plants group, the composition of essential oil and phylogenetic analysis over trnL3'-F region of chloroplast DNA was conducted. Therefore, revision of the current description of the Scandix genus members in the Flora of Turkey, identification of new characters, and contribution to the systematics of the genus were aimed. Some morphologic and morphometric characters (number of fruits per rail, width of the ripe fruit, beak length of the fruit, the position of the stylus in the fruit, pedicel length, width and lenght of petal), not given in the Flora of Turkey, were reported for the first time with this study. Prior to the analysis on stem, fruit and root anatomy belonging to the genus members found in Turkey, significant differences couldn't detected in the anatomic characters between the studied genus members. Furthermore, fruit ornementation of each genus was analyzed by SEM, electron microphotographs were taken and the fruit surface of the species were determined to be reticular. Pollens of Scandix taxa were evaluated by light microscope and SEM and in the morphologic and morphometric character analyse, the pollen characters of the taxons were found to be similar, no significant differences were observed between them. The pollen shape was found as perprolate in S. iberica, and as purolate in the other species; as aperture type tricolporate and its ornamentation as rugulate perforated and regulate were identified according to SEM results. Essential oil composition of the species belonging to the genus was determined by GS-MS and chemical identification key was constructed for the major compounds of the studied 6 taxa. At the essential oil analysis of the studied species, the major compounds were determined as n-hexadecanoic acid (5.7-31.5 %), 9-12 octadecanoic acid (1.2-26.6%), spathulenol (11.5-19.6%), octadecane sterol (11.4-31.1%), and germacrene-D (0.7-23.3%). The results of the molecular data from cpDNA trnL3'-trnF region of the studied 6 species were evaluated and presented as cladogram. S. pecten-veneris and S. macrorhyncha species were found to be close, grouped in a small clade and determined to be the 2 species closest to the outgroup.