Gladiolus siirtensis Pınar, Eroğlu & Fidan, 2023

Pinar, Süleyman Mesut, Eroğlu, Hüseyin & Fidan, Mehmet, 2023, A new species of Gladiolus from Southeastern Türkiye, Gladiolus siirtensis (Iridaceae, Crocoideae), Phytotaxa 578 (3), pp. 286-296 : 287-290

Gladiolus siirtensis Pınar, Eroğlu & Fidan sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–6 ).

Type: — TÜRKİYE. Siirt: Pervari, Okçular village, Kovanağzı hamlet, northeast of Kovanağzı , 37˚ 47′ 09″ N, 42˚ 29′ 07″ E, dry stream bed, 2155 m of elevation, 15 June 2021, M. Pınar, H. Eroğlu, M. Fidan 3265 (Holotype VANF!; Isotype SUFAF!)

Diagnosis: — Gladiolus siirtensis resembles partly G. humilis but mainly differs by stem, leaf and flower characteristics. It mainly differs from G. humilis by the stem length in flower 5.5–10 cm (vs. 15–20 cm), leaves oblong, ellipticaloblong or oblanceolate (vs. linear, linear-lanceolate to elliptical), secund flower orientation (vs. distichous), absence of blotch on the lower perigone segments (vs. present), anther length 5.5–7 mm (vs. 8–12 mm), style length 18–22 mm (vs. 25–32) and unequal stigma lobes (vs. equal).

Description: —Perennial, glabrous herb. Corm ovoid-globose 10–18 × 7–13 mm; tunics membranaceous, 3- layered, brown, with regular parallel fibres, rarely contractile root present. Stem 5.5–10 cm long in flowering period, 8–18 cm long in fruiting period, erect, 1–3 mm in diameter at base. Cataphylls 1(–2), membranous, creamy-white to light brown, acute. Leaves 3, first one oblong to oblanceolate, 10–21 cm × 7–18 mm, acute; second one ellipticaloblong or oblanceolate, 10–29 cm × 4–12 mm, acute to acuminate; third one linear-lanceolate, 8.5–21 cm × 2–5 mm, acuminate, venation irregularly spaced, leaves usually reach the middle of the spike, and emerge from the cataphylls. Bracts lanceolate, valves unequal, membranous at margin and 2–4 mm wide, (4–6 mm wide in fruit); inner bracts 12– 17 mm long in flowering period, 15–20 mm long in fruiting period; outer bracts 15–20 mm long in flowering period, 17–35 mm long in fruiting period. Inflorescence (2–)3–5(–7) flowered, in a dense, secund, erect, spike 2.5–4(–6) cm long in flowering period, 3–6.5 cm in fruiting period. Perianth unicolored outside, all segments pinkish purple; lower lateral segments whitish on the inner surface, without fusiform blotch on the lower lateral segments; tubes straight, posterior 6–7 mm long, anterior 8–10 mm long; upper segments 3–5 mm long clawed, upper median segment broadly spatulate to oblanceolate, 21–26 × 3–5 mm, upper lateral segments spatulate to linear-oblanceolate, 20–25 × 3.5–5 mm. Lower segments 6–7 mm long clawed; lower median segment broadly elliptical to spatulate, 23–28 × 4.5–6 mm, lower lateral segments narrowly elliptical-oblanceolate to spatulate, 21–26 × 3.5–5 mm, obtuse, margins undulate. Filaments 13–14 mm long, adnate to perigone tube, filiform, widened at the base; anthers shorter than filaments, 5.5–7 mm long, brownish-green, basifixed, included. Ovary 3-locular; style filiform, lilac or pink, 18–22 mm long; stigma unequal branched 1.5 and 2.5 mm long, widened at the tips, pink. Fruit a 3-loculicidal, obovoid capsule, 7–16 × 5–9 mm. Seeds triquetrous-ovoid, 2.42–4.6 × 1.32–2.41 mm, brown, not winged, surface ornamentation reticulatealveolate.

Distribution, habitat, and ecology: — Gladiolus siirtensis is distributed in the Pervari district of the Siirt province in Türkiye ( Fig. 5 ). The habitat of the species is the crevices of dried water streams in alpine regions ( Fig. 6 ). The flowering period of the species is June and July. It is an element of Irano-Turanian phytogeographic region.

Etymology: — Gladiolus siirtensis takes its name from Siirt, the province where it was described.

Common Turkish name of the new species: ― Gladiolus species are called “Kılıçotu” in Turkish. The authors propose that the Turkish name of this new species should be “Siirtkılıçotu” according to the guidelines of Menemen et al. (2016).

Palynological properties: —The pollen grains of Gladiolus siirtensis are monad, isopolar, sulcate, subprolate (long axis length: 65.39 (± 1.53) µm, short axis length: 50.11 (± 1.15) µm, long axis length/short axis length: 1.30, exine thickness in polar equatorial area: 1.63 (± 0.13) µm, intine thickness in polar equatorial area: 0.89 (± 0.09) µm, sulcus with 43.56 (± 3.14) µm), ornamentation is microechinate-puncate, exine structure is tectate columellate. The average number of echinae at 10 µm 2 is 66.5 (± 4.8), the average number of punctus at 10 µm 2 is 105.25 (± 16.48) ( Fig. 3 , Table 2).

Seed surface properties: —The seeds of Gladiolus siirtensis are ovoid-triquetrous in shape, and has reticulatealveolate ornamentation type. Seed sizes are 2.42–4.6 × 1.32–2.41 mm, seed color is brown. While the types of anticlinal cell walls in G. siirtensis are sunken, periclinal cell walls are concave ( Fig. 4 , Table 3).

Paratypes: — TÜRKİYE. Siirt: Pervari, Okçular village, Kovanağzı hamlet, northeast of Kovanağzı , 37˚ 47′ 09″ N, 42˚ 29′ 07″ E, dry stream bed, 2155 m of elevation, 15 June 2019 (in flower), M. Pınar, H. Eroğlu, M. Fidan 2563 (VANF!; SUFAF!); ibidem, 15 July 2022 (in fruit), M. Pınar, H. Eroğlu, M. Fidan 3905 (VANF!; SUFAF!) .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Gladiolus siirtensis; a: habit, b: inflorescence, c: ripe fruit.

FIGURE 2. Field photographs of Gladiolus siirtensis and similar species; a–f: G. siirtensis, g–i: G. humilis, j–l: G. atroviolaceus, (a–b– c–d–g–j: habit, e–h–k: inflorescence, f–i–l: flower).

FIGURE 3. SEM photographs of pollen grains of Gladiolus siirtensis and G. humilis; a–c: G. siirtensis, d–f: G. humilis (a–d: equatorial view, b–e: ornamentation in equatorial view, c–f: polar-distal view).

FIGURE 4. SEM photographs of seeds of Gladiolus siirtensis and G. humilis; a–c: G. siirtensis, d–f: G. humilis. (a–d general view under stereo microscope; bars = 1 mm, b–e- c–f- epidermal cells).

FIGURE 5. Distribution map of Gladiolus siirtensis and closely related species: red star = G. siirtensis; brown rhombus = G. humilis and blue square = G. atroviolaceus.

FIGURE 6. Habitat and photographs of Gladiolus siirtensis; a. General habitat (The red arrows in the photo show the areas where the species is distributing. b–c. Photos showing the size of the G. siirtensis in flowering (b) and fruiting (c) time in the hand of an average male individual.