≡ Centaurea foliosa Boiss. & Kotschy in Boiss., Fl. Orient. 3 : 672. 1875 [non C. foliosa Gand.].

Typus : Turkey. Prov. Hatay : “in valle Amani occidentalis supra Arsus [Arsuz] prope pagum Ursusa”, c. 150 m, 4.VII.1862, Kotschy 113 (holo- : G-BOIS [G00150226] images seen; iso- : C [C10007081] image seen, JE [JE00015828] image seen, K [K000794179] image seen, P [P00730189, P00730190] images seen, S [S10-6178] image seen, W0075111,W0075112, W0075110 images seen) (Fig. 1).

Biennial herb, 100–150 cm tall. Stem erect, branched in the upper third, greenish, c. 6 mm in diam. at base, cylindrical, with thick yellowish striations, ± densely leafy throughout, subglabrous or with sparsely arachnoid trichomes. Leaves coriaceous (papyraceous when dry), sparsely covered with arachnoid trichomes, denser along midrib and veins. Basal and lower cauline leaves very large 60-77 × 10-15 cm, petiolate, hastate, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, with 1–2 pairs of ± falcate or triangular lobes (4–8 cm long) in lower part, denticulate, truncate at base, obtuse or acute at apex, with prominent and elevated veins on both sides. Median cauline leaves sessile, simple, narrowly oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 10-15 × 3-5 cm, entire, acuminate at apex, decurrent. Upper cauline leaves gradually smaller towards apex, sessile, simple, lanceolate, 4-9 × 1.5-2.2 cm, usually longer than capitula, decurrent, entire, acuminate at apex. Capitula several, (8-)10–25-cephalous, arranged in a subraceme or racemose-dichasium, 2–3 grouped subsessilly at apex of stem and of several short axillary branches. Involucres oblong-ovoid, 23-25 × 13-25 mm. Phyllaries multiseriate, greenish-yellow, imbricate, coriaceous. Appendages large, totally concealing the phyllaries, chartaceous, not decurrent, straw-coloured, lanceolate, 2–3 mm wide at base (excluding cilia); cilia numerous, erect, (8-)12–14 on each side, 1.5–3 mm long; apical spine short, 3–5 mm long, slightly longer than the adjacent cilia. Flowers yellow; central florets hermaphroditic, 28–30 mm long, corolla 12–13 mm long, 5-lobed, lobes 6–7 mm long, anther tube yellowish, apical appendage broadly rounded, style slightly shorter than corolla in length, stigma bifid, ca. 0.5 mm long; peripheral florets sterile, nearly equal in length than the central ones, numerous (15–20 in each capitulum) and conspicuous, finely dissected, slightly radiant, 4-lobed, limb lobes linear. Achenes lanceolate-oblong, c. 4.5-5 × 2-2.5 mm, striate and shiny, brown to dark brown or silver-brown, rounded at apex, glabrous; insertion areole lateral, yellowish or light-brown, c. 0.5 mm long. Pappus double, persistent, multiseriate, scabrous, brown or dark brown, sometimes dark purple, 5–7 mm long, the bristles of the inner side rows shorter than those of the outer side, c. 1.5 mm long.

Etymology. — The specific epithet honors Dr. Zafer Kaya a specialist of the genus Centaurea s.l. in Turkey.

Phenology. — Flowering from July to August; fruit ripening from July to September.

Distribution and habitat. — Centaurea zaferii is a very rare endemic to Hatay Province in southern Turkey. It is an Irano-Turanian element (Negaresh & Rahiminejad, 2016), and grows on rocky slopes, limestone cliffs, gravel slopes, or in forest dominated by Cupressus sempervirens L. This species also grows on forest slopes or scattered between Rosa L. shrubs, and in the low-montane zone at elevation of c. 150 m. Centaurea zaferii is distributed in lower elevation in comparison to the other species of Centaurea sect. Cynaroides.

Notes. — Boissier (1875) described C. foliosa (= C. zaferii) based on an immature specimens and was not able to study the characters of flowers and achenes. New collections from 1994 and 2014 allow to better understand the morphology of this species. Centaurea zaferii resembles C. charrelii Halácsy & Dörfl. by its yellow flowers and the chartaceous, lanceolate appendages of the capitulum (totally concealing the phyllaries). However, C. zaferii differs from C. charrelii by its taller habit (100–150 cm vs 50–70 cm), basal and lower cauline leaves with 1–2 pairs of ± falcate or triangular lobes (4–8 cm long), denticulate (vs undivided, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, margin smooth), capitula in groups of 2–3 arranged subsessilly at apex of stem and of several short axillary branches (vs a crorymb of 5 to 10 (-15) capitula), involucres 23-25 × 13-25 mm (vs 25-32 × 25-32 mm), appendages 2–3 mm (vs 3–5 mm) wide at base (excluding cilia), peripheral florets equal than the central ones, 4-lobed (vs slightly shorter than the central ones, 5-lobed), achenes c. 4.5–5 mm (vs 5–6 mm) long, and pappus brown or dark brown (vs whitish).

Centaurea zaferii is endemic to low elevation (c. 150 m) in Hatay Province in southern Turkey whereas C. charrelii grows at higher elevation (c. 500 m) in eastern Greece (Edhessa, Domokos and Macedonia) (Constantinidis et al., 2002).

Specimens examined. —Turkey. Hatay : “Höyük Köy, südöstlich Arsuz (Ulucinar), am Bachufer”, c. 150 m, 11.VIII.1994, Hellwig & Kaya s.n. (GOET); “Antakya, Kiseciküstleri,” 14.VII.2014, Bona 102867 (ISTE).