Bellevalia pseudolongipes Karabacak & Yıldırım, 2014

Karabacak, Osman, Yildirim, Hasan & Martin, Esra, 2014, Bellevalia pseudolongipes sp. nov. (Asparagaceae): a new species from southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, Phytotaxa 188 (4), pp. 209-217 : 210-212

Bellevalia pseudolongipes Karabacak & Yıldırım , sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–3 )

Type: — TURKEY. B9 Siirt: Eruh, Sağırsu köyü civarı, step, 16 April 2011, Karabacak 7974 (holotype, EGE!; isotypes, GAZI!, ANK!) .

Bulb globose–ovoid, 1.2–3.9 cm diameter, outer tunic coriaceous, brownish, inner tunic papery, light brownish. Leaves 2–6, widely lanceolate, shorter than scape in flowering time and fruiting time, 7–24 × 1–4.2 cm, green; margins tinged purplish-brown, narrowly cartilaginous, ciliate to scabrous. Scape 1–2(–3), 3–10.5 cm long, green to purplish-green. Raceme cylindrical or slightly conical in flowering time and distinctly conical in fruiting time; rather dense, (1.3–) 4– 10.5 cm long, elongating to ca. 14 cm in fruit, rachis purplish to purplish-green; bracts entire or slightly bilobe, minute, green to purplish, triangular to oblong. Pedicels longer than flowers, horizontally ascending or erect at first, up to 25 mm long in flowering time, reflexed at the end of flowering time; 20–100 mm and ascending at apex in fruiting time, green. Flowers (8–)30–120, 4.7–10 mm long, tubular-campanulate, perigone dark purple in bud; tube pale purple with greenish lobes in flowers, becoming yellowish-brown; perigone tube 5–6.5 mm long, lobes 2.5–3 mm long, lobes long 1/2 of the tube, subequal, ovate-lanceolate, distinctly shorter than tube. Stamens with flat, very narrowly triangular, basally not connate filaments attached just below base of perigone lobes, anthers yellowish, 1–1.5 × 0.5–1 mm, reaching the apex of lobes and visible at the mouth of the flower. Capsule long elliptic, ca. 8–10 mm diam., 13–15 mm long, valves thin, elliptic, retuse at apex. Seeds globose–ellipsoid, ca. 2 mm, black. Flowering time from April to May, 950–1150 m, in steppe.

Distribution and Ecology: — Bellevalia pseudolongipes is a species endemic to Turkey.It is distributed throughout Siirt and Mardin province. It grows in steppe, at 950–1150 m of elevation. It is an element belonging to the Irano– Turanian floristic region. This species grows can be found with Trigonella monantha C.A.Mey. subsp. monantha , Lamium amplexicaule L., Ranunculus asiaticus L., Silene aegyptiaca (L.) L.f. subsp. aegyptiaca , Salvia viridis L., S. multicaulis Vahl , Viola occulta Lehm. , Alkanna froedinii Rech. f., Gynandriris sisyrinchium (L.) Parl., Ornithogalum narbonense L., Euphorbia haussknechtii Boiss. , Nonea ventricosa (Sm.) Griseb. , Aethionema arabicum (L.) Andrz. ex DC. Similarly, also B. longipes can be found in Gaziantep, Siirt and Mardin Provinces.

Etymology: —The species epithet is derived from the morphological similarity with Bellevalia longipes .

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— TURKEY. Turkey B 9 Siirt: Baykan, Gündoğdu Vadisi , step, 1050 m, 16 April 2012, O. Karabacak 8270 (GAZI!); Siirt Üniversitesi Kezer Yerleşkesi, step, 950 m, 20 April 2012, O.Karabacak 8275 (GAZI!); ibidem, 2 May 2013, O.Karabacak 8825 (EGE!); Şirvan, Demirkapı köyü civarı, step, 1070 m, 38° 03’ 564’’ N 42° 05’ 547’’ E, 29 April 2012, O.Karabacak 8326 (EGE!) .

Taxonomic relationships: — Bellevalia pseudolongipes resembles B. longipes (holotype, G00165492!) ( Fig. 4 ) but it can be easily distinguished from the latter species by several noticeable morphological characters. The new species differs from B. longipes by having shorter scape, widely lanceolate, ciliate or scabrous leaves; mostly 1–2(–3) and relatively shorter scapose; more number of flowers; mostly cylindrical raceme at flowering time; dark purple flowering bud and becoming yellowish-brown perigone; perigone lobes as long as near half of perigone tube; shorter pedicels during flowering time; anthers yellow; shorter valves of capsule. More details of morphological differences between B. pseudolongipes and B. longipes are listed in Table 1. B . pseudolongipes showed 2n = 12 chromosomes ( Fig. 5 ). B. longipes is reported as 2n = 8 by Bothmer & Wendelbo (1981). B. pseudolongipes and B. longipes are usually found in the same habitat and sometimes populations of the two species are can be found in the same site. B. pseudolongipes is actually more widely distributed than B. longipes in Turkey. Likely, B. pseudolongipes remained unnoticed for a long time given the close resemblance with B. longipes during the fruiting period.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Bellevalia pseudolongipes A. habit, B. flower, C. stamens and ovary position of them in flower, D. capsule, E. margin of leaf with indumentum.

FIGURE 2. Bellevalia pseudolongipes A–C. habit in flowering time, D. flowers, E. leaf surface.

FIGURE 4. Bellevalia longipes A. habit in flowering time, B. raceme, C. habit in early fruiting time (pictures from Musa Geçit).

FIGURE 5. Somatic chromosomes in Bellevalia pseudolongipes Bar: 10 µm.