Iris songarica Schrenk

Boltenkov, Eugeny V. & Schröder, Christof N., 2019, Nomenclatural notes on Iris songarica (Iridaceae) and two related names, Phytotaxa 387 (4), pp. 289-294 : 290

Iris songarica Schrenk in Fischer & Meyer (1841: 3)

≡ Joniris songarica (Schrenk) Klatt (1872: 502) ≡ Sclerosiphon songaricum (Schrenk) Nevski (1937: 331) .

Protologue citation:—“ Lect. in campis ad fl. Ajagus, sub finem Maji m. fructibus maturis onusta ”. Type (lectotype, designated here by E. V. Boltenkov ):— KAZAKHSTAN. [East Kazakhstan Region], Nugym am Ajagus , [fr.], 30 May [1840], [Schrenk] s.n. Herb. Schrenk ( LE! barcode LE00050105 – Fig. 1 ; isolectotypes LE! barcodes LE00050106 , LE00050107 , LE01017906 ). Other original material examined:— KAZAKHSTAN. [East Kazakhstan Region], Songaria, Nugym am Ajagus , May 1840, [Schrenk] s.n. ( LE! barcode LE01017907 ) ; Songaria, in deserti ad fl. Ajagus , 28 May 1840, [Schrenk] s.n. ( LE! barcode LE01017908 ) ; Deserta sabulosa apud Ajagus , s.d., [Schrenk] s.n. ( LE! barcodes LE01017909 , LE01017910 ) ; Ajagus, s.d., Schrenk s.n. Herb. Bongard ( LE! barcode LECB0001747 ) .

= Iris songarica var. multiflora Kuntze (1887: 242) . Protologue citation:—“Nördlich von As’chabad in der Sandwüste”. Type (lectotype, designated here by E.V. Boltenkov ):— TURKMENISTAN. [Ahal Region], Iris songorica Schrenk v. multiflora m. caule 60–90 cm alto 3–4 spathis plurifloris, hellblau; bei Askabad in der Sandwüste, [fl.], May [18]86, [Kuntze] s.n., Herb. O. Kuntze no. 599 ( NY! barcode NY00319391 – digital image available at https://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/vh/specimen_details.php?irn=253103) .

= Iris multiflora Zinger (1901: 163) . Protologue citation:—“Turcomania, Hejer”. Type (lectotype, designated here by E.V. Boltenkov):— KAZAKHSTAN. [South Kazakhstan Region, Shardara District], [Label 1 (handwritten)]: Not far from the Uzun-Ata , left bank, 16 May [18]98, [fl.], [I. Geyer] s.n.; [Label 2 (handwritten by W. J. Zinger, with the printed note “Herbarium Horti Botanici Jurievensis”)]: Iris sp. Not far from the Uzun-Ata, left bank, Syr-Darya Oblast , 16 May [18]98, I. Geyer s.n. [originally in Russian] ( TU! barcode TU314902 – Fig. 2 ) .

Notes:— Iris songarica was described by Schrenk ( Fischer & Meyer 1841) based on the plants at the fruiting stage collected in late May 1840 along the way from Ayagoz to Lake Balkhash, on the banks of the Ayagoz River, eastern Kazakhstan. Almost all the above-mentioned original specimens of I. songarica belong to Schrenk’s herbarium. Most likely the label of the specimen here selected as lectotype ( Fig. 1 ) was handwritten by Schrenk ( Lipsky 1905: 577); originally the plant was named as “ Iris gramineus ”, but the specific epithet was struck through and superscripted as follows: “ soongorica Schk n. sp.!”. We prefer to designate the herbarium sheet LE00050105 as lectotype of I. songarica because it agrees with the protologue and is the most complete and informative.

Iris songarica var. multiflora was described by Kuntze (1887) based on the plants collected by him in the Karakum Desert near Ashgabat, southern Turkmenistan. The specimen NY00319391 is designated here as lectotype of the name, since there is no evidence that it is the only specimen from which the description was made. This specimen is accompanied by a label handwritten by Kuntze and agrees well with the protologue.

Iris multiflora was described by Zinger (1901) from plants collected by I. Hejer in 1898 in Syr-Darya Oblast (a part of Russian Turkistan), in the floodplain of the Syr Darya River, left bank, near the Uzun-Ata tract. In the protologue, this territory is referred to as “Turcomania [ Turkmenistan]”. It is possible that only one specimen ever existed ( Fig. 2 ). If so, this would be the holotype (Art. 9.1 of the ICN, Turland et al. 2018), but, as we cannot be certain about, because there is no definite indication in the protologue, we select the specimen as lectotype ( McNeill 2014). This specimen is represented by a single flowering stem with four flowers. The lectotype specimen is accompanied by a label with description in Latin, handwritten by Zinger, which clearly conforms to the information provided in the protologue of I. multiflora (“ Iris sp. Iris multiflora m.: affinis I. soongaricae Schr. (Boiss. V. 126; Ledb. IV. 99, 100), sed caule compresso flexuoso sesquipedali, spathas 3–4 distantes subbifloras gerente, et perigonii laciniis angustioribus differt. Plantae partes inferiores foliaque radicalia desiderantur ”). The specimen is also accompanied by a printed label, on which W. Lipsky handwrote as follows: “ Iris songarica Schrenk ! March 1902 ”.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lectotype of Iris songarica (LE barcode LE00050105).

FIGURE 2. Lectotype of Iris multiflora (TU barcode TU314902). Reproduced with permission of the Botanical and Mycological Museum Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden University of Tartu.