The global botanical community has officially recognised a new plant species discovered in the Lesser Balkan and Karakum Desert regions. The species in question is Astragalus rustamovii. The description of the species has been published in the annual journal ‘Novosti Sistematiki Vysshikh Rastenii’ by the V.L. Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, according to IIC.

The new species is the result of many years of research by Turkmen botanist and systematist Alexander Pavlenko and Professor Alexei Laktionov of Astrakhan State University. The plant is endemic and does not occur in nature outside Turkmenistan. The species is named after geobotanist Inklab Rustamov, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan.

This unusual plant was first recorded in 2016 during field research. To confirm its independent species status, scientists studied herbarium collections from leading scientific centres in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tashkent, Berlin and Brno, including materials from the 19th century.

Comparative analysis showed that Rustamov's astragalus differs in a number of stable morphological characteristics, including the ratio of leaf and flower stalk sizes, as well as the shape of the petals, which allows it to be distinguished from closely related species.

The discovery confirms the high biological value of the foothills of the Lesser Balkan and Western Kopetdag. Rustamov's astragalus is included in the international flora register.