Tulipa sarvestanica Alipour & Majidi, 2023

Moein, Fatemeh, Majidi, Ramiar, Khazaei, Zahra & Alipour, Sajad, 2023, Tulipa sarvestanica (Liliaceae), a new species from south-western Iran, Phytotaxa 630 (1), pp. 87-92 : 88-91

Tulipa sarvestanica Alipour & Majidi , sp. nov. ( Figs 1–3 )

Type:— IRAN. Fars Province: 11 km Sarvestan – Fasa Road , 1700–1850 m, 29°12’41.9” N, 53°18’36.5” E, Mar 2023, Alipour 13724 (holotype: FUMH).

Tulipa sarvestanica differs from the similar T. systola in its bulb with a less dense woolly coating of fine hairs inside the tunic, smaller capsules, lower black blotches on the base of the perianth and yellow versus purple anthers ( Table 1 ; Figs 1,2).

Perennial, bulbous herbs with ovoid bulbs, 2.7–3.0 × 1.8–2.0 cm; tunics light brown–dark brown, inner surface densely covered with 3 mm long silky, appressed curly hairs. Stems erect, 21–25 cm tall, glabrous, glaucous to greenish brown with one flower. Leaves 4, usually alternate, glaucous to green, lowermost leaf 8.5–10.0 × 1.5–3.0 cm, second leaf 9–10 × 1.0– 1.1 cm, canaliculate, undulate, linear-lanceolate, apiculate to subacute, ciliolate in lower 1/3, upper leaves 6.0– 6.3 cm × 2.0–4.0 mm to 2.5–3.5 cm × 2.0–3.0 mm, smaller and narrower, acute to acuminate. Flowers single, erect, campanulate, glabrous, outer tepals rectangular-rhombic to almost triangular, slightly wider than the inner triangular to almost oval tepals, tepal segments slightly unequal, velutinous to light red with apiculate acuminate tips with a small teardrop-shaped blotch black base with dark shadows and margin yellow covering 10% of the inner tepals. Outer segments 2.9 × 2.5–3.7 cm elliptic; inner segments 2.5 × 3.1–2.0 cm, obovate. Filaments 6–10 mm, often black and blackish-violet basal patches or yellow with dark shadows, glabrous, dilated at base that gradually narrowing; anthers 4–8 mm, yellow, oblong to elliptical, shorter than filaments; pollen yellow. Ovary 0.9–1.5 cm, shorter than stamens. Capsule brown, oval, 2.0– 2.5 cm ellipsoid, distinct transverse veins present throughout. Seeds 0.5–0.7 mm, flat, triangular-deltoid, light brown, turning dark reddish brown at maturity.

Phenology:— Growth initiated January, leaf development/inflorescence emergence February, flowering March and fruit maturity May.

Etymology:— Named after the Sarvestan region.

Colour notes:— The black base is less noticeable on the outer surface of perianth segments and is not easily seen in dried material. The black base is filled by the black colour of the perianth segments without a yellow margin, creating distinct, obtrullate black basal patches with dark shadows. The ovary is usually yellow but sometimes yellowish green with a sessile yellow stigma.

Habitat:— Found only in one locality in south-western Iran, Fars Province ( Fig. 4 ). Based on our field observation, this region near the Post-e-Chenar region has marl hills composed of sandstone with minimal organic matter.The climate is subtropical, with warm, dry summers and mild winters. Rainfall is irregular, with 70–80% falling December–April. In addition, we observed that the soils are generally lacking in nutrients and support a low herbaceous cover.

The floristic composition of the habitat where T. sarvestanica occurs includes Fritillaria gibbosa , Allium longisepalum , Zygophyllum atriplicoides , Convolvulus acanthocladus , Sternbergia clusiana , Scorzonera paradoxa , Gladiolus persicus . The most abundant species in these localities is Zygophyllum atriplicoides .

Genome size:— In Tulipa sarvestanica , the nuclear DNA values are 2C = 81.9 pg, which is large compared to 2C = 56.1 pg. (2n = 24) in T. systola ( Masoud et al. 2002, Zonneveld 2009). Among the diploid Tulipa species in T. sect. Tulipanum Reboul (1847: 60), the smallest genome size was found in T. armena Boissier (1859: 99) with 50.8 pg, whereas the largest was observed T. aleppensis Boissier in Regel (1873: 450) with 97.3 pg ( Zonneveld 2009). The size of T. sarvestanica suggests that it is likely polyploid and supports the distinctiveness of T. sarvestanica from T. systola .

Conservation status:— With an area of occupancy (AOO= 4.000 km 2), T. sarvestanica has a small, severely fragmented range. There is no clear estimate of population size, but based on field observations, it is likely that fewer than 200 individuals exist in each population. According to the IUCN criteria ( IUCN 2022), T. servestanica could be assessed as endangered (EN), B1ab (i, iii)+B2ab (i, iii). Based on IUCN criteria, species with less than five locations and less than 100 km 2 are categorised as endangered species. There is a decline in the number of mature individuals (i), extent of occurrence, (iii) area, extent, and/or quality of habitat. Furthermore, the population of T. sarvestanica has been negatively impacted by road construction and establishment of olive groves.

It is crucial to focus on recording and monitoring more populations of this species, especially in protected areas, and to collect bulbs and seeds for ex-situ conservation efforts at national and international levels. The status of this species could potentially change if new populations are discovered in the future.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Tulipa sarvestanica. A. Habitat. B. Flower. C. Stamens, ovary, stigma. D. Capsule and seed (enlarged). E. Bulb. F. Habit (20–25 cm). Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURE 2. Tulipa systole. A. Habitat. B. Flower. C. Stamens, ovary and stigma. D. Seeds (enlarged). E. Bulb. F. Habit (15-35 cm). Scale bar = 1 cm.

FIGURE 3. Holotype of Tulipa sarvestanica (13724 FUMH).

FIGURE 4. Distribution of Tulipa sarvestanica.