Allium murat-sonayii Balos, Sonay & C. Çeçen, 2023

Balos, Mehmet Maruf, Sonay, Veysel, Çeçen, Cahit & Akan, Hasan, 2023, Allium murat-sonayii (Amaryllidaceae), a new species from Türkiye, Phytotaxa 600 (1), pp. 43-51 : 44-47

Allium murat-sonayii Balos, Sonay & C. Çeçen , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–3 , Table 1 )

Diagnosis: —Bulblets light purple, stamen equal to or longer than the perigon, tepals, emerald green in primarily, outer tepals oblong or ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, scabrid in upper part, mainly along keel and margins, inner tepals, ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, curved inward, margins scabrid, ovary papillose, median cusps shorter than lateral cusps.

Type: — TÜRKİYE. Elazığ: Karakoçan region, Sarıcan town, near Mt. Hesarek , stony steppe, 2300 m of elevation, 15 July 2022, M. Balos 5381 & V. Sonay (holotype HARRAN!) .

Paratypes: — TÜRKİYE. Elazığ: Karakoçan region, Sarıcan town, near Mt. Hesarek , stony steppe, 2300 m of elevation, 12 June 2021, M. Balos 5238 & V. Sonay ( HARRAN!)

Description:—Bulb ovoid, l.2–3.5 × 0.7–2.5 cm; outer tunics dark brownish, papyraceous, with parallel fibres, splitting above, creates a 0.5–1.8 cm collar on stem, bulblets few, 6–8.5 mm long, light purple, oblong-ovoid, fusiform, stipitate, often borne on stem; inner tunics membranous, whitish. Stem 14–27 cm long, straight or flexuous below. Leaves 2, 5–17 cm × 1.5–1.75 mm, canaliculate, smooth, shorter than scape, leaf sheathing up to 1/2 of stem or below, glabrous, lowest leaf rarely circinnate; sheaths ± ribbed. Spathe caducous, 1-valved. Umbel subglobose, 1–3.5 cm long, many-flowered, dense. Bracteoles united around the outer pedicels. Pedicels, 1.5–5.5 mm long, unequal, glabrous, upper part is swollen. Perigon 2.75–3 × 1.75–2.25 mm, oblong-campanulate; tepals, emerald green in primarily, later creamy at the base, greenish in the middle, slightly purplish on top and margines, midrib is not prominent. Outer tepals 2–3 × 1–1.2 mm, oblong or ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, scabrid in upper part, mainly along keel and margins; inner tepals, 2–3 × 1.25–2.4 mm, ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, curved inward, margins scabrid. Stamen 2–4.5 mm long, equal to or longer than the perigon; filaments white, glabrous at base, outer filament simple, subulate, 1.5–3 × 0.5 mm; inner filament tricuspidate 3–4.25 × 0.75 mm; median cusps 1.5–2 mm long, shorter than lateral cusps, basal lamina 2 mm long; lateral cusps 2.5–3 mm long. Anthers ca. 1 × 0, 6 mm, dirty yellow, slightly verrucous. Stylus 0.75–2.5 mm long, distinctly exerted from perigon; ovary papillose, ovate, 2 × 1.25 mm. Capsule ca. 3–3.5 × 2.5–3 mm wide, ovate to globose; valves emarginated, 2.2–3 × 2–2.7 cm wide; seed 2–2.5 × 1–1.25 mm, black.

Etymology: —The new species is named in honour of Murat Sonay, brother of the second author, who first collected the new species.

Vernacular name: Since no local name can be observed, the name “zümrüt soğanı” is suggested ( Menemen et al. 2016, 2021).

Distribution and habitat: — Allium murat-sonayii is a local endemic restricted to near Mt. Hesarek in Elazığ province, Eastern Anatolia. It is an element of Irano–Turanian phytogeographical region (see Davis 1971). The new species is only distributed on the summit of near Mt. Hesarek, in stony areas, at 2300 m of elevation ( Fig. 1 ). Species growing nearby are Acantholimon saxifragiforme Hausskn. ex Mobayen , Aethionema speciosum Boiss. & A.Huet , Allium shinasii Armağan , Fritillaria crassifolia Boiss. & A.Huet , Helichrysum plicatum subsp. polyphyllum (Ledeb.) P.H.Davis & Kupicha , Mesostemma kotschyanum (Fenzl ex Boiss.) Vved. , Sabulina juniperina (L.) Dillenb. & Kadereit, Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl , Polygonum setosum Jacq. , Silene chlorifolia Sm. , Thymus leucotrichus Halácsy.

Phenology: —Flowering and fruiting from June to July.

Conservation status: —Less than 100 mature individuals were observed at the type locality of Allium murat-sonayii , which covers (area of occupancy-AOO) an area of less than 10 km 2 (criteria B2 ). There is a serious grazing effect on the population, which may lead to a reduction in the number of individuals in the near future. Therefore, due to its restricted population, a single locality, and estimated decrease in the area of occupancy, habitat quality and number of mature individuals, the species may be classified as ‘‘Critically Endangered’’ (CR) (criteria B2 ab [i, ii, v]) ( IUCN 2023).

Taxonomic Relationships: — Allium murat-sonayii Balos, Sonay & C. Çeçen is close to A. stearnianum Koyuncu, Özhatay & Kollmann in Kollmann et al. (1983: 266), A. stearnianum subsp. vanense Kollmann & Koyuncu in Kollmann et al. (1983: 267), A. aybukeae H.Duman & Ekşi in Duman et al. (2017: 1286), A. gemiciana Yıldırımlı & Kılıç (2016: 3) , A. yamadagensis Yıldırım & Ekşi in Ekşi & Yıldırım (2019: 31) and Allium dictyoprasum C.A.Mey. ex Kunth in Meyer & Kunth (1843: 390). All these species belong to section Allium and their outer tepals are rough, but differs from them by several morphological characters, such as bulblets color, stem length, leaf, umbel shape, perigon colour, outer and inner tepal, anther colour, filaments and ovary ( Table 1 ).

Allium murat-sonayii differs from A. stearnianum and A. stearnianum subsp. vanense by stem lenght, light purple bulblets, broad leaves, subglobose umbel, perigone colour, dirty yellow anther, glabrous filament at base; from A. stearnianum by papillose, ovate ovary; from A. stearnianum subsp. vanense by smooth leaves; differ from A. aybukeae by bulblets, dark brownish, papyraceous outer tunic, shorter perigon, outer and inner tepal, equal or longer stamens than perigon, glabrous filament at base, papillose ovary; differ from A. gemiciana by papyraceous outer tunic, present bulblets, canaliculate, smooth and broader leaves, oblong-campanulate and shorter perigone, shorter and narrower outer tepal, shorter inner tepal, dirty yellow anther, papillose, ovate ovary; differ from A. yamadagensis by shorter stem length, canaliculate, smooth leaves, shorter pedicel, shorter and oblong-campanulate perigon, shorter inner and outer tepal, glabrous filament at base, shorter ovary; differ from A. dictyoprasum by outer tunic structure, yellow bulblets, shorter stem length, canaliculate and fewer leaves, subglobose umbel, shorter pedicel length and ovary shape. These differences indicate the specimens to represent indeed a new species. The differences between the new species and related six species are summarized in Table 1 .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Allium murat-sonayii (from the holotype); A: Habitat of A. murat-sonayii, B–C: Habit at the type locality, D: Umbel before flowering, E–F: Umbel in flowering period, G–H: Umbel in the fruiting period (photographed by M. Balos).

FIGURE 2. Allium murat-sonayii (from holotype); A: Habit. B: Bulb, C: Bulb and bulblet, D: Indumentum of leaf sheaths. E: Flower, F: Outer surface of open perigone with stamens, G: Inner surface of open perigone with stamens, H–J: Outer tepal, K–L: Inner tepal, M–N: Ovary, P–R: Capsule, S: Valve of capsule, T: Seed (photographed by M. Balos).

FIGURE 3. The distribution map of Allium murat-sonayii sp. nov. (red star), A. stearnianum (black triangle), A. stearnianum subsp. vanense (blue triangle), A. aybukeae (black dot), A. gemiciana (blue dot), A. yamadagensis (black squares), A. dictyoprasum (blue squares).