Taxonomical and nomenclatural notes on Centaurea: A proposal of classification, a description of new sections and subsections, and a species list of the redefined section Centaurea

T axonomical and nomencla T ural no T es on Centaurea : a proposal of classifica T ion , a descrip T ion of new sec T ions and subsec T ions , and a species lis T of a redefined sec T ion Centaurea .— In this paper, we summarize the results of our long-date research on the genus Centaurea. The first part of the paper deals with the overall classification of the genus, which we propose to divide into three subgenera: subgenus Centaurea, subgenus Cyanus and subgenus Lopholoma. The second part of this publication gives a recopilation of the species of the redefined section Centaurea, a group that includes former sections Acrolophus (sect. Centaurea s. str.), Phalolepis and Willkommia, together with taxonomical, geographical, ecological and karyological considerations . Finally, new descriptions or nomenclatural combinations are proposed to correlate nomenclature to the new classification: a new combination (sect. Acrocentron subsect. Chamaecyanus) is proposed in subgenus Lopholoma; three new sections (sects. Akamantis, Cnicus, and Hyerapolitanae) are described in subgenus Centaurea; two subsections (subsects. Phalolepis and Willkommia) in sect. Centaurea; and three subsections (subsects. Exarata, Jacea, and Subtilis ) in sect. Phrygia.