TWO NEW SPECIES OF ALCEA FROM IRAN

Two new species of Alcea L. (Malvaceae)in Iran, namely, A. iranshahrii from Fars Province and A. mazandaranica from Mazandaran Province are described. Their descriptions and taxonomic relationships are also given. In addition, seed coat microsculpturing is examined using Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM). The seed coat patterns observed are fairly uniformed among the genus. It was simple reticulate and regular, but there were pores distributed throughout seed coats with specific structures. The numbers, size, thickness of margins and the number of the cells surrounding the pores are characteristics for the species. In A. mazandaranica pores are bigger and thin at margins and also their number are more than that of the A. iranshahrii. A discussion on the taxonomic value of the seed micromorphology is also provided.