A new record for the Flora of Iraq: Astragalus vogelii (Papilionaceae)

Abstract

The Western Desert is a wide area of Iraq, it is bordered by three Arab countries, and characterized by the great plant diversity in the rainy years, including year 2019, during the spring season of the same year, a number of field trips were carried out in which wild plants were collected, and among them was Astragalus vogelii (webb) Bornm. of the papilionaceae family for the first time in Iraq, specifically in the Obealah valley, which intersects with the highway road towards Jordan and Syria (about 18 km. west of Rutba). The species was identificated according to the Flora of neighboring and near countries, the morphological description of the sprcies was done through a taxonomic treatment supported by photographic and microscopic images for all floral and vegetative parts, as well as anatomical description of the stem based on the cross section. Amap was also developed the specifies the locations of the species distribution. After making sure that there was no previous sample for the species in the Iraqi Herbaria, the sample of this study were deposited in the Iraqi National Herbarium with numbers 60340, 60341, 60342 and in the Anbar University Herbarium with numbers 6670, 6671, 6672 and 6673.