In this article, 1650 herbarium specimens of representatives of the genus Gagea Salisb. were used as research material from the collections of the National Herbarium of Uzbekistan (TASH). It presents a geographical coordinate system, habitats, phenology, and economic values. The distribution of species in Uzbekistan was indicated by the phytogeographic regions of the country. The herbarium material of Gagea Salisb. has been studied in TASH, SAMSU and MSU. The TASH Herbarium presents samples from 1914 to 2019. The review was written using information published between 1988 and 2019 from a number of reliable sources, including Science Direct, Springer, PubMed, EMBASE and Wikipedia.

The article provides information about five rare Gagea species that are new to the flora of Kazakhstan. These are G. subtilis from Beltau (Alymtau) mountains, G. kamelinii from the Karatau ridge and Ulkenburul mountains, G. artemczukii from River Tobol floodplain, G. podolica from Caspian lowland and Mugodzhary, and G. deserticola from the vicinity of the Daryalyk Takyr sands, the Barsakelmessky State Nature Reserve and Bolshye Barsuki. Gagea podolica and G. artemczukii are noted for Asia for the first time. The new sites of these species are based on herbarium specimens stored in the herbaria of MW and AA.

A new white-flowered species of Gagea is described from the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve (Chatkal Range, Kyrgyzstan), which grows at a relatively low elevation in shallow shady niches on gorge walls formed by conglomerates. In its habit and flower color, this species resembles G. delicatula but differs from the latter mainly in the number and location of bulbils in generative and vegetative individuals. (C) 2019 National Science Museum of Korea (NSMK) and Korea National Arboretum (KNA), Publishing Services by Elsevier.

The most important center of speciation in the genus Gagea is thought to be in Central Asia. Here, we focus on species diversity in southeastern Kazakhstan (around Almaty, Ili-Alatau range of the Western Tian-Shan mountains). We studied an elevational transect, reaching from lowland steppes to the alpine zone (500–2750 m a. s. l.), and carried out detailed morphological and molecular investigations for populations of Gagea spp. Nine species were identified in different altitudinal zones; one of these (Gagea almaatensis) is described as new to science. We could detect two altitudinal contact zones between closely related species: G. filiformis and G. granulosa (sect. Minimae), and G. almaatensis and G. kuraminica (sect. Gagea). Morphological and molecular investigations (ITS data and cpDNA networks) indicate ongoing hybridization of co-occurring G. filiformis into G. granulosa and putative bidirectional hybridization events between G. almaatensis and G. kuraminica.

Most vascular plant taxa are able to reproduce vegetatively in addition to sexual reproduction. Some plants even survive despite of (near to exclusive) sexual sterility. However, very few of these taxa are non-apomicts with a wider distribution range.Here we present the rare case of a virtually sexually sterile, non-apomictic plant, which was able to colonise its Central European range solely by clonal multiplication of a single genotype via subterranean bulbils: the geophyte Gagea spathacea (Liliaceae) occurs in forests in northern Germany and adjacent southern Scandinavia, with scattered populations spread all over Central Europe; recently the species was recorded from the Caucasus. We used AFLP fingerprinting to genotype 138 samples from 52 populations throughout this range. The analyses revealed an extremely low genetic diversity (simple matching distances 0-0.1353). By using a threshold for clone identity of <0.02, 136 of 138 samples were assigned to a single clone, the two deviating plants originated from one German population and from the Caucasus. The "megaclone" was present in all analysed Central European populations. A subset of 22 plus four additional populations was studied by DNA sequencing of the ITS region and of psbA-trnH IGS; these sequences were also found to be highly uniform.The absent spatial genetic structure throughout the species' range lends strong evidence that G. spathacea is a sexual sterile, nearly monoclonal taxon. Most probably this can be explained by either the high ploidy level (nonaploidy) and/or the assumed hybridogeneous origin of this taxon. However, the purely clonal state with bulbils as sole means of dispersal poses further questions concerning species' origin and putative colonisation history. (C) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Summary We describe the conditions of growth, reproduction and plants numbers of an isolated population of Gagea spathacea (Hayne) Salisb. discovered in the Caucasus Mts., including its protection status and proposed measures of conservation.

Gagea alexii Ali & Levichev (G. sect. Incrustatae Levichev) is recorded from the subnival zone of the southern mountains of Iran, the Hezar Mts. (Kerman province). Plant associates and some ecological aspects of the habitat of the species are discussed. A distribution map and expanded description of the G. alexii, including a cross-section of the peduncle is given. The morphological comparison of this species with its close relatives is also provided. The characters of the G. sect. Incrustatae and a key for specific identification are presented. The occurrence of this species in the subnival zone of the Hezar Mts. is a further evidence of the close floristic affinity of the southeastern Zagros with the Hindu Kush and Central Asia especially at high altitudes.

A new species Gagea microfistulosa Levichev from the Crimean yaila is described. Its difference from close species G liotardii (Sternb). Schult. et Schult. f, G bithynica Pascher and G polidorii J.-M. Tison is shown; biological features are characterized.

Hybridization seems to play an important role in speciation of Gagea Salisb., a genus which is characterised by polyploid taxa lines and in which diploids (2n = 24) appear only to be common in basal sections. Hybrid detection was applied utilising direct and cloning nrDNA ITS data (ITS1, 5.8S rDNA, ITS2) combined with neighbour and ribotype networks and discussed in connection with previously published cpDNA, morphological and karyological data of the authors. We have evidence of the hybrid origin of taxa within the section Gagea (G. pomeranica, G. megapolitana) and the monophyletic clade of sections Didymobulbos and Fistulosae (G. microfistulosa, G. polidorii, G. cf. bohemica). Morphologically and karyologically differentiated Gagea megapolitana and G. pomeranica, adapted to synanthropic habitats, represent both hybrids of G. pratensis × G. lutea. Gagea microfistulosa represents a hybrid of G. villosa × G. fragifera; Gagea polidorii could represent the reverse hybrid. G. glacialis is also closely related to the latter complex.

Our study represents the first phylogenetic analyses of the genus Gagea Salisb. (Liliaceae), including 58 species of Gagea and 6 species of the closely related genus Lloydia Salisb. ex Rchb. Our molecular results support the infrageneric classification of the genus Gagea in sections according to Levichev and demonstrate that Pascher's subdivision of this genus into two subgenera can no longer be upheld. Certain Gagea sections (e.g., Gagea, Minimae, and Plecostigma) are well supported by cpDNA and nrDNA data. Gagea sect. Fistulosae is closely related to G. sect. Didymobolbos. Gagea sect. Graminifoliae and G. sect. Incrustatae are closely related to G. sect Platyspermum. The analyses support the monophyly of Gagea and Lloydia collectively. The molecular analyses reveal the basal position of G. graeca in proportion to all other species of Gagea and Lloydia investigated. Minor morphological differences could be established between both genera which support their close relationship.

The importance of various characters for the taxonomic discrimination of taxa in the genus Gagea is discussed. Four new species Of the genus Gagea from Western Himalayas and the adjoining regions are described. Two species, G. alii Levichev and G. utriculosa Levichev belong to section Plectostigma whereas G. bowes-lyonii Levichev and G. spumosa Levichev are attributed to section Stipitatae.

L'application des noms Gagea reticulata (Pull.) Schult. & Schult. f. (Liliaceae), Gagea reticulata sar. tenuifolia Boiss., Gagea reticulata var. fibrosa Boiss. et Gagea rigida Boiss. & Spruner est discutee. Ces quatre noms sont lectotypifies.

Morphology and morphogenesis of the root system and of the bulbs and bulbils were comparatively investigated in more than 100 Gagea taxa. The diagnostically and taxonomically relevant characters were especially analysed with respect to the variability which is depending on the individual age and the yearly developmental cycles. A few characters show special ecological adaptations.