Bidens aurea (Asteraceae), a new record to the Flora of Yemen

Abstract

A field survey was conducted on the genus Bidens L. in Sana’a city during the period April to September 2019. A total of four Bidens taxa were collected from different locations in Sana’a city. Three of them were matched with the three recorded Bidens species in Yemen flora (B. bipinnata, B. bi­ternate, and B. pilosa). However, the fourth collected Bidens taxon was considered to be a new record to the flora of Yemen, namely Bidens aurea (Aiton) Sherff. A morphological diagnostic was carried to illustrate the morphological characters of the new record Bidens taxon. Based on 42 morphological leaf characters (26 qualitative and 16 quantitative), a comparison study and static analysis (UPGMA) were made to demonstrate the taxonomical relationship between the new recorded Bidens taxon and the closely related Bidens spp. cited in the flora of Yemen. The new recorded Bidens taxon showed a similarity to the closely related Bidens taxa mentioned in the flora of Yemen in 9 qualitative leaf morphological characters. However, twenty leaf morphological (11 qualitative and 9 quantitative) characters showed an important taxonomic value in differentiating between B. aurea and the other three Bidens species recorded in the flora of Yemen.