Pseudopodospermum is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Asteraceae (daisy family), placed within the tribe Cichorieae and the subtribe Scorzonerinae. The genus was established by Kuthat'elidze in 1978, based on a section of Scorzonera (as Scorzonera sect. Pseudopodospermum Lipsch. & Krasch., 1935) from which it was segregated; the full name with authorship is Pseudopodospermum (Lipsch. & Krasch.) Kuth.
Like other members of Cichorieae, plants in this genus are characterized by milky latex canals running through their roots, stems, and leaves, and by flowerheads composed entirely of ligulate (strap-shaped) florets with five-toothed corollas. They are herbaceous perennials or annuals, consistent with the general growth form of the tribe.
The genus comprises approximately 40 accepted species distributed across a broad range from the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean Basin through the Caucasus and Central Asia to the Middle East. Representative species include P. hispanicum (Iberia), P. crocifolium (eastern Mediterranean and Greece), P. troodeum (Cyprus), P. hissaricum (Tajikistan), and P. suberosum (Caucasus region). Pseudopodospermum is closely allied to Scorzonera and shares its family placement within order Asterales.
Distribution
Pseudopodospermum species are distributed across temperate and Mediterranean regions of the Old World, ranging from the Iberian Peninsula (e.g., P. hispanicum, P. reverchonii) and the eastern Mediterranean (e.g., P. crocifolium in Greece, P. troodeum in Cyprus) through the Caucasus and Turkey to Central Asia (e.g., P. hissaricum in Tajikistan, P. turcomanicum in Turkmenistan). The center of diversity of the closely related genus Scorzonera is the Mediterranean, and Pseudopodospermum shares this broad Old World temperate distribution.
Taxonomy Notes
Pseudopodospermum was originally circumscribed as a section within Scorzonera by Lipschitz and Krascheninikov in 1935 (Scorzonera sect. Pseudopodospermum Lipsch. & Krasch.). It was raised to genus rank by Kuthat'elidze in 1978, published in Kavkaz. Predstav. Scorzonerinae 85. The genus belongs to subtribe Scorzonerinae of tribe Cichorieae (family Asteraceae, order Asterales). Most species in the genus were transferred by Zaika, Sukhorukov & N.Kilian, reflecting ongoing molecular-based reclassification of the broad Scorzonera aggregate.
