Crocus heilbronniorum Erol, 2017

Erol, Osman, Harpke, Doerte & Çiftçi, Almila, 2017, Crocus heilbronniorum, a new Turkish species of Series Lyciotauri (Iridaceae), Phytotaxa 298 (2), pp. 173-180 : 175-177

Crocus heilbronniorum Erol sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 2 )

Type:— TURKEY. Muğla: Fethiye, Muğla province, near Arpacık, 1200 m a.s.l., 1 March 2016, O. Erol & L. Can (holotype ISTF 41115!)

Description: —Corm elliptic, 6–16 mm in width (mean 10.25 ± 2.7; n=15) × 6–15 mm in length (mean 9.5 ± 2.5; n=15). Tunics coriaceous, horizontal edges prominently divided in parallel fibrils. Rings present at base with significant teeth longer than 1 mm, nonuniform in length. ( Figure 1c , 2d ). Neck indistinct. Cataphylls 3, silvery white. Leaves synanthous, 2–4, mostly 3 (mean 2.8 ± 0.5; n=13), green, broadest part in the middle, 0.9–1 mm in diameter, glabrous, with 2 ribs underneath. White stripe usually 1/3 of leaf diameter, 0,2–0,3 mm (mean 0,28 ± 0,04; n=13) ( Fig. 2a ). Throat yellow, base of throat prominently purple. Perianth tube purple ( Fig. 1b ). Outer segments narrowly ovate, 20–30 mm long (mean 23.25 ± 3.3; n=16) 4–6 mm wide (mean 5 ± 0.6; n=13). Inner segments 18–27 mm long (mean 21.8 ± 2.7; n=17) and 4–7 mm wide (mean 5.5 ± 0.9; n=17). Segments light blue or lilac on both sides, outer segments rarely insignificant veined ( Fig. 2a ). Prophyll absent. Bract and bracteole present, skinny, inconspicuous, silverywhite. Filaments yellow, purple at base, 6–10 mm long (mean 8.2 ± 1.13; n=17), hispid-hairy; anthers 4–6 mm long, very narrow, narrowly triangular, connective colourless, anther lobes long, acute and linear-obtriangular in shape ( Fig. 1a ; 2b,c ). Pollen yellow. The styles are yellow-orange, trifid, branches 4–7 mm long (mean 5.3 ± 1.21; n=17), very shortly divided into 2 branches at apex. Styles always overtopping the stamens. Mature capsule and seeds not seen. Chromosome number: 2 n = 2 x = 12.

Eponymy:—The new species is dedicated to Alfred and Mehpare Heilbronn. Ord. Prof. Dr. Alfred Heilbronn (1885–1961) was a German scientist specialized in Pharmacobotany and Genetics. After he lost his professorship in Germany under the National socialistic regime, he was invited to Turkey. Because of his expertise on Pharmacobotany, he got a professorship at the Istanbul University. Alfred Heilbronn was founder of the herbarium ISTF and the Alfred Heilbronn Botanical Garden of the Istanbul University. His wife, Prof. Dr. Mehpare Heilbronn (1908–1993) was also a professor of botany and she focused her research on the flora of Uludag Mountain.

Ecology and distribution:—The natural habitat of C. heilbronniorum , is dominated by Mediterranean climatic conditions; the soil type is terra rosa; it grows on 1200–1300 m a.s.l. We observed circa 5–6 samples per square meter in a 0,002 km 2 area. It grows with Euphorbia rigida Marschall von Bieberstein (1808: 375) , Geranium tuberosum L. (1753: 680) Arum rupicola Boiss. (1854: 7) , Ranunculus ficaria L. (1753: 550), Muscari serpentinicum Yıldırım, Altıoğlu & Pirhan ( Pirhan, Yıldırım & Altıoğlu 2014: 3).

Figures

FIGURE 1. The flower (a); the flower dissection (b); the tunic structure, bar = 1mm (c) and the leaf section, bar=100 μm of Crocus heilbronniorum.

FIGURE 2. The illustration of Crocus heilbronniorum (Kezban SAYAR).A. the habitus, B. the flower C. the dissection of the flower, D. the corm (scale bar=2mm).