• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.239-246
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• 2020

Carex nakasimae Ohwi (Cyperaceae) is an endemic species on the Korean peninsula. This study reports a new locality of the species, updating the distribution map. A new population of the species was found during field surveys in 2014 in a small swamp in Haman-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do province, located in the southeastern part of the Korean peninsula. In the flowering and fruiting periods of the species, the population is associated with ca. 91 vascular plant taxa from 40 families. To conserve the endemic species, maintaining the habitat is critical. Furthermore, taxonomic and phylogenetic positions of the species should be clarified to establish biological conservation strategies for the rare, endemic C. nakasimae.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.253-261
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• 2020

Carex splendentissima U. Kang & J. M. Chung, endemic to the Korean peninsula, is characterized by staminate terminal spikes and glabrous elliptic perigynia. Based on its broad leaves, androgynous spikes, and tri-stigmatic features, the species has been placed in Carex sect. Siderostictae Franch. ex Ohwi, an East Asian section and a basal group in the genus. To clarify the monophyly and phylogenetic position of the species, a molecular study using the internal transcribed spacer region of nuclear ribosomal DNA and chloroplast DNA (trnL-F) data was conducted. The DNA sequence data of ten taxa in sect. Siderostictae and closely related taxa (two taxa in sect. Surculosae) with outgroups were analyzed based on maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood (ML) criteria. In the analyses, C. splendentissima was monophyletic and placed within the Siderostictae clade (sect. Siderostictae + two species of sect. Surculosae), forming a clade with C. ciliatomarginata and C. pachygyna (endemic to Japan). The clade (C. splendentissima + C. ciliatomarginata + C. pachygyna) shows evidence of diploidy. Furthermore, C. splendentissima is a sister to C. ciliatomarginata in the ML tree, and the two taxa have staminate terminal spikes. This study also updates the distribution of C. splendentissima and provides keys to the four Korean taxa in sect. Siderostictae. To conserve the endemic species C. splendentissima, further research on its genetic and ecological features should be conducted at the population level.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.277-293
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• 2009

Disagreement among the various publications providing lists of Korean endemic plants makes confusion inevitable. We summarized the six previous reports providing comprehensive lists of endemic plants in Korea: 407 taxa in Lee (1982), 570 taxa in Paik (1994), 759 taxa in Kim (2004), 328 taxa in Korea National Arboretum (2005), 515 taxa in the Ministry of Environment (2005) and 289 taxa in Flora of Korea Editorial Committee (2007). The total number of endemic plants described in the previous reports was 970 taxa, including 89 families, 302 genera, 496 species, 3 subspecies, 218 varieties, and 253 formae. Endemic plants listed four times or more were collected to compare the data in terms of scientific names and synonyms (339 taxa in 59 families and 155 genera). If the varieties and formae were excluded, the resulting number of endemic plants was 252 taxa for the 339 purported taxa analyzed. Seven of the 155 genera analyzed were Korean endemic genera. Among the 339 taxa, the same scientific names were used in the original publications for 256 taxa (76%), while different scientific names were used for 83 taxa (24%). The four largest families were Compositae (42 taxa, 12.4%), Ranunculaceae (19 taxa, 5.6%), Rosaceae (19 taxa, 5.6%), and Scrophulariaceae (19 taxa, 5.6%). Saussurea (Compositae) had the highest number of taxa within one genus (17 taxa; 5% of total endemic taxa).

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2020.12a
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• pp.60-60
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• 2020

To establish in vitro axillary bud culture conditions of Echinosophora koreensis Nakai, one of Korean endemic endangered species famous for beautiful flowers, we tested the influence of plant growth regulators (PGRs) in shooting and rooting stage from in vitro plants. In shoot multiplication, addition of 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) to the media induced 2.5 to 3 shoots per bud during 4 weeks of culture. And media including 0.5 mg L^-1 thidiazuron (TDZ) produced 3 to 4 shoots per bud. However, zeatin and isopentenyl adenine (2-ip) were not successful to increase shoot number, and the combination treatments of BA with other PGRs were also not effective. Shoots were smaller than 2 cm in length, in most of the treatments. In rooting, naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) treatments in the range of 0.5 to 4.0 mg L^-1 appeared to increase rooting rate by 10% to 60% approximately when compared with the control but roots developed with callus clusters. Indole butyric acid (IBA) addition had little effect on rooting (below 10%), while some roots were longer than in NAA treatments and some shoots were longer on high IBA concentrations (4.0 to 8.0 mg L^-1). It is suggested that micropropagation is a highly applicable and promising to multiplication and conservation of rare and endangered endemic species.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.79-101
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• 2023

Following recent taxonomic, distributional, and nomenclatural revisions, an updated checklist of endemic plants on the Korean Peninsula is needed. This study provides an updated checklist of vascular plants endemic to the Korean Peninsula and describes their distribution within administrative provinces. The revised checklist includes 373 endemic taxa (304 species, six subspecies, 49 varieties, and 14 nothospecies) from 179 genera and 64 families, representing 9.5% of the total native flora of the Korean Peninsula. Asteraceae (41 taxa), Ranunculaceae (29 taxa), Liliaceae s.l. (24 taxa), and Rosaceae (22 taxa) were the most widely represented families. Compared with the most recent checklist published in 2017, 39 taxa were excluded from the checklist; one taxon was excluded because it did not have a valid published name, seven taxa were excluded because their natural habitats extended to neighboring countries, four taxa were excluded because they were treated as a rank form, and 27 taxa were excluded because they had been identified as heterotypic synonyms of taxa distributed outside of the Korean Peninsula. Fifty-two new taxa were included based on the literature. This checklist will help to focus conservation efforts and provide a framework for research, protection, and policy implementation related to these endemic taxa.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.119-133
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to provide basic information for rational management plans for sustainable conservation and utilization by comprehensive analyzing the flora distributed in Yongchu valley, Changwon-si. The flora of Yongchu valley were summarized as 319 taxa including 93 families, 212 genera, 285 species, 3 subspecies, 6 forms and 25 varieties. The endemic plants were 5 taxa such as Chrysosplenium pilosum var. fulvum, Impatiens koreana, Lespedeza maritima, Thalictrum acteifolium and Weigela subsessilis. The rare plants were 11 taxa including I. koreana, Prunus yedoensis and Magnolia kobus. The specific plants by floristic region were 38 taxa including I. koreana, Jeffersonia dubia., M. kobus and P. yedoensis which are class V. The naturalized plants were 11 taxa including Solanum americanum, Aster pilosus, Crassocephalum crepidioides and Cerastium glomeratum and so forth and invasive alien plants among these plants was 1 taxa of A. pilosus. The target plants adaptable to climate change were 8 taxa including Corydalis turtschaninovii of northern plant, I. koreana of endemic plant, and Meliosma myriantha of southern plant.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.43-62
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to offer the raw data for management and conservation of Korean ecosystem by surveying the present conditions and characteristics of flora to select the ecological and landscape conservation area, Ilwolsan(Mt.), Korea. The numbers of flora in Mt. Ilwol were summarized as 582 taxa including 94 families, 307 genera, 508 species, 4 subspecies, 61 varieties and 9 formas. The rare plants were 15 taxa including Clematis koreana, Aristolochia contorta, Daphne pseudomezereum var. koreana, Iris odaesanensis and so forth. The Korean endemic plants were 14 taxa including Pseudostellaria coreana, Philadelphus schrenckii, Galium koreanum, Weigela subsessilis and so forth. The specific plants by floristic region were 29 taxa including Cimicifuga heracleifolia, Parasenecio firmus, Sorbaria sorbifolia var. stellipila, Acer mandshuricum, Syringa reticulata var. mandshurica and so forth. The naturalized plants were 22 taxa including Fallopia dumetorum, Rumex nipponicus, Trifolium repens, Sonchus asper, Phleum pratense and so forth. A set of important area is rare plant, Korean endemic plant, specific plant emerge a lot of areas.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.166-169
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• 2023

Carex brevispicula (Cyperaceae) is endemic to Korea and is characterized by constricted achenes, short lateral spikes, and awned staminate and pistillate scales. The species classified in sect. Mitratae occurs throughout South Korea, perennating on mountains and/or rocky slopes under half shadow conditions. Meiotic chromosomes of the species were examined in this study, in which 33 meiotic cells from seven populations were found to be less than 2 ㎛ long with non-constricted chromosomes (n = 34_II). The stable chromosome number may be related to the narrow geographical distribution and/or distinct achene morphology. Further investigations of the distribution, morphological character variation, and chromosome characteristics should be conducted with closely related taxa to understand the derivation of the species and its endemism in Korea.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.146-156
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• 2023

Background: Endemic species are important components in the flora of most world regions. Most of these species have become threatened and exposed to extinction within the last few years. The present study aims to evaluate the ecosystem services offered by the endemic plant taxa in Egypt and the threats that affect them. Twenty-five field visits were conducted during summer 2018 to spring 2022 to several locations all over Egypt. In each location, the main habitats, national distribution, abundance, goods and threats were recorded. Results: Egypt has 41 endemic taxa belonging to 36 genera and 20 families inhabiting 10 main habitats. Rocky surfaces and sandy formations have the highest number of endemic species. The relation between the number of endemic taxa and the abundance categories indicated that 2 taxa are rare (4.9% of the total taxa), while the remaining were very rare (95%). The most represented offered good was the medicinal uses (32 taxa = 78%), while fuel plants were only represented by 2 taxa (2 taxa = 4.9%). Besides, 14 taxa (34.1% of the total studied taxa) have at least 1 environmental service. Soil fertility (7 taxa = 50%) was the most represented, followed by sand accumulations (6 taxa out of 14 taxa = 43%), while shading plant was the least (1 taxon = 7.1%) (Rosa arabica). The most represented threat is over-cutting and over-collecting (38 taxa = 92.7%), while mining and quarrying is the least represented (4 taxa = 9.8%). Conclusions: The potential and actual goods, services and threats of the endemic taxa were assessed as follows; field observation, information collected from local inhabitants and herbalists, and a literature review. The present study recommended planning a strategy about the importance, threats and conservation of endemic taxa in Egypt that would help in the protection and rescue of these plants and increase awareness about the importance of these plants.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.77-79
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• 2022

Aster altaicus var. uchiyamae, a Korean endemic plant, should be treated as a species rank because it is clearly distinguished from A. altaicus var. altaicus by the morphological characteristics of the plant habit, leaf width, and head size. Nevertheless, when A. altaicus var. uchiyamae was treated as a species rank, the epithet uchiyamae was unavailable in Aster owing to the earlier name A. uchiyamae, which was a replacement name for the illegitimate name A. depauperatus. Therefore, we propose A. danyangensis as a new replacement name for A. altaicus var. uchiyamae. The specific epithet danyangensis refers to the geographic location of Danyang-gun, where the species was discovered. We also designate the lectotype and isolectotype of A. danyangensis.