Hypericum formosissimum

Hypericum formosissimum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Hypericaceae
Genus:	Hypericum
Section:	Hypericum sect. Adenosepalum
Species:	H. formosissimum
Binomial name
Hypericum formosissimum Takht. 1940
Synonyms
Hypericum formosum Takht.

Hypericum formosissimum is a species of flowering plant in the St John's wort family Hypericaceae. Found in the cracks of limestone rocks, it is a small perennial herb that grows in a pillow-like shape, has yellow flower petals, and blooms in the late summer. The plant is rare and has a limited habitat in Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. It is threatened by rock collapses, urbanization, and road construction, but has not been protected by any conservation efforts.

The species was first described as Hypericum formosum by Armen Takhtajan, and was later excluded in error from a genus-wide monograph of Hypericum by Norman Robson. When the species was reviewed by Robson, he was uncertain about its placement within the genus and was unsure about whether to place it in section Origanifolia or section Adenosepalum. In a 2013 online publication, Robson placed the species in a Hypericum huber-morathii group within Adenosepalum alongside several related species.

The genus name Hypericum is possibly derived from the Greek words hyper (above) and eikon (picture), in reference to the tradition of hanging the plant over religious icons in the home.^[1] The specific epithet formosissimum derives from the superlative form of formosus, which means "beautiful" or "finely formed".^[2] In Turkish, the species is known as bitlis kantaronu, sharing a name with the Anatolian city and province of Bitlis.^[3][4]

Hypericum formosissimum is a perennial herb that grows 3–10 cm (1.2–3.9 in) tall. It lacks small hairs on its surfaces, and grows in a pillow-like shape. The plant has many slender and brittle stems that grow in straggling directions. The leaves grow from nodes spaced 0.3–1.4 cm (0.12–0.55 in) from each other along the stems. The leaves are attached by a short leafstalk, and have blades that are 0.3–1.0 cm (0.12–0.39 in) long and 0.3–0.8 cm (0.12–0.31 in) wide. The leaf blade is thin but almost leathery in texture, with a rounded tip and flattened base. There are black glands spaced out across the surface of the leaf.^[5]

Each flower cluster has between one and five flowers from a single node. The flowers are 1.0–1.2 cm (0.39–0.47 in) wide and are surrounded by small bract-like structures with black glands. The buds are globe-shaped with a rounded tip. The sepals are 0.2 cm (0.079 in) long and 0.1 cm (0.039 in) wide, with a single large vein and pale amber and black glands. The petals are pale yellow, 0.6–0.8 cm (0.24–0.31 in) long and 0.2–0.5 cm (0.079–0.197 in) wide, with no pointed tip and pale glands. The flowers have 18–20 stamens, the longest of which is around 0.5–0.6 cm (0.20–0.24 in) long. The styles are two or three times as long as the ovary, and the seed capsule is around 0.3 cm (0.12 in) long with several partial vittae. The seeds are brown and 0.1–0.3 cm (0.039–0.118 in) long.^[5]

Hypericum formosissimum flowers in June and July and fruits from July to August.^[6][7]

Unlike most species in the genus Hypericum, H. formosissimum does not contain both hypericin and pseudohypericin in its chemical profile. It contains only pseudohypericin, but at similar levels to other related species like H. annulatum and H. montanum.^[8]

The species was first described in 1937 as Hypericum formosum by Armen Takhtajan in the botanical series of the Soviet academic journal Izvestiia Akademii Nauk SSSR.^[9] This name was illegitimate, because Carl Sigismund Kunth had already validly published the accepted species Hypericum formosum in 1822.^[10] The name was also illegitimately used by Asa Gray in 1853 to describe Hypericum scouleri.^[11] In 1940, Takhtajan corrected his illegitimate name in a publication in Zametki po Sistematike i Geografii Rastenii [ru], creating the new name Hypericum formosissimum.^[12]

Hypericum formosissimum was originally excluded in error from a comprehensive monograph of the genus Hypericum by botanist Norman Robson, along with the related species H. huber-morathii and H. minutum.^[13][14] A later edition in 1996 corrected the mistake and discussed the morphology and relationships of H. formosissimum. However, it introduced ambiguity as to which section of Hypericum the species belonged. Robson acknowledged that it and the two other excluded species should have been included in his treatment of sect. Adenosepalum, but then advocated for their inclusion in sect. Origanifolia based on the structure of their vittae, which would relate them most closely to Hypericum aviculariifolium in the latter section.^[15] According to Robson, removing the three species, along with several others related to Hypericum elodeoides, would lead to a "purified" sect. Adenosepalum forming a "natural group" of species.^[16]

Further complicating the contradiction was the species' later inclusion by Norman Robson and his colleague David Pattinson within a "Huber-morathii group" inside sect. Adenosepalum in the online edition of the monograph in 2013. There, Pattinson speculated that H. formosissimum was an "extreme development" of sect. Adenosepalum because of its pillow-shaped growth pattern and almost threadlike stems. In the online classification, the placement of Hypericum formosissimum was summarized as follows:^[5]

Hypericum

Hypericum subg. Hypericum

Hypericum sect. Adenosepalum

Huber-Morathii Group

H. decaisneanum – H. formosissimum – H. huber-morathii – H. minutum – H. sechmenii

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The village of Areni, where conservation for Hypericum formosissimum has been proposed

The village of Bozdağ, which is the type locality for Hypericum minutumIn Turkey, it is only found in the Yukarı Murat-Van [tr] region of eastern Anatolia.^[4] It also grows in Armenia and the Nakhchivan exclave of Azerbaijan.^[5] Across its distribution, the species can be found in the cracks between limestone rocks at elevations of 1,500–1,900 metres (1,600–2,100 yd).^[5][6] The species has been noted to be a part of a plant community centered around the flowering plant Eremurus spectabilis.^{[Note 1][17]}

Hypericum formosissimum was listed in the Red Data Book of Armenia as a Rare species, but has not been included in CITES or the Berne Convention. It has a limited distribution of less than 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi) with only three localities in Armenia, one in Azerbaijan, and one in Turkey. It is threatened by natural factors like collapsing rocks, as well as human factors like urbanization and road construction. As of 2016, no conservation action had been taken, but ecological advocacy groups have called for the protection of a locality near Areni, Armenia, as a nature monument.^[7]

When cultivating the plant, it is grown in sunny and dry areas with protection from winter dampness. It can be grown in poor, well-drained soil. Propagation is undertaken by seeding in springtime; the seed is covered with a small amount of soil and left to germinate for 1–3 months. Division is done in the spring while cuttings are taken in the late summer.^[6]

• Azad, Novruzi (2022). "Petrophile (Rocky-Gravel) Plant Type of Garagush Mountain" (PDF). Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference. 9. ISBN 978-3-954753-03-1.
• Coombes, Allen J. (2012). The A to Z of plant names: a quick reference guide to 4000 garden plants. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, Inc. ISBN 978-1-60469-196-2.
• Crockett, Sara; Robson, Norman (2011). "Taxonomy and Chemotaxonomy of the Genus Hypericum". Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Science and Biotechnology. 5 (1): 1–13. PMC 3364714. PMID 22662019.
• Kitanov, Gerassim (2001). "Hypericin and pseudohypericin in some Hypericum species" (PDF). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology. 29 – via Internet Archive.
• Nürk, Nicolai; Blattner, Frank (2010). "Cladistic analysis of morphological characters in Hypericum (Hypericaceae)" (PDF). Taxon. 59 (5): 1495–1507. doi:10.1002/tax.595014. JSTOR 20774044 – via JSTOR.
• Robson, Norman (1993). "Studies in Hypericum: validation of new names". Bulletin of the Natural History Museum. 23 (2) – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
• Robson, Norman (1996). "Studies in the genus Hypericum L. (Guttiferae) 6. Sections 20. Myriandra to 28. Elodes". Bulletin of the Natural History Museum. 26 (2) – via Biodiversity Heritage Society.