Leopoldia buseana Yıldırım, 2023

Yildirim, Hasan, Akbaş, Kenan & Özdöl, Tuğkan, 2023, Leopoldia buseana (Asparagaceae, Scilloideae), a new species from southwestern Anatolia, Phytotaxa 625 (1), pp. 51-65 : 53-56

Leopoldia buseana Yıldırım sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–3 )

Type:— TÜRKİYE. C2 Muğla: Ula district, Gökçe to Balan Mountains road, 36 o 58’ N, 28 o 21’ E, 402 m of elevation, 19 May 2023, H. Yıldırım 10388, K. Akbaş & T. Özdöl ( EGE 43782 !, holo.; EGE 43783 !, NGBB!, AIBU!, HUB!, iso.) .

Diagnosis:— Leopoldia buseana is similar to L. muglaensis , L. elmasii and L. weissii . It differs from them mainly by its 1.5–3.5 cm wide and flat to slightly canaliculate, sometimes undulate leaves; 10–30 cm long raceme with 40–85 fertile flowers and 20–40 sterile flowers; fertile flowers 9–12 mm long, mauve to bluish-mauve at buds and early stage; lobes greenish-yellow at first and turn to dark brown.

Description:— Bulb globose to ovoid, 25–50 × 30–55 mm, without bulblets. Outer tunic membranaceous, pale brown to dark brown, sometimes pinkish; inner scales fleshy, pinkish-white. Leaves 3–5, linear-lanceolate, erecto-patent to patent, 10–30 × 1.5–3.5 cm, flat to slightly canaliculate, sometimes undulate, glabrous, ciliate to scabrid at the margin, acute at apex. Scape 1 per bulb, 15–30 cm long, elongating to 35 cm in fruit. Raceme dense, cylindrical, 10–30 × 1.5– 2.5 cm, elongating to 40 cm in fruit; number of fertile flowers 40–85, number of sterile flowers 20–40. Bract minute. Sterile flowers narrowly obconical-cylindrical, 3–6 mm long, pinkish to mauve; pedicels 7–20 mm long, pinkish to mauve, patent to erecto-patent. Fertile flowers cylindrical-urceolate, with sharply angled shoulders, 9–12 × 2–4 mm; tube 8–10 mm long, mauve to bluish-mauve at buds and early stage; turn to yellowish brown at the proximal part and dark maroon to dark brown distally; sometimes with 6 purplish-brown prominent main veins; lobes 1–1.5 mm long, greenish-yellow at first and turn to dark brown, erect to slightly recurved; orifice 1.5–2 mm; pedicel 5–12 mm long in flower, slightly elongating in fruit, patent to slightly deflexed. Stamen biseriate, arising above the middle of the tube; filaments 0.7–1.5 mm long, narrowly triangular, whitish; anther 2 mm long, dark violate. Pollen grains pale yellow; ovary light green to yellowish green, narrowly conical, 3–3.5 mm long; style yellowish-green, 3–4 mm long; stigma punctate. Capsule broadly obconical to orbicular, broadly trigonous to ovoid-orbicular, obtuse, or emarginate with compressed wing-like valves, 1–1.5 × 1.5–2 cm, valves compressed. Seeds 3–6 per capsule, 2.5–2.8 × 2.2-2.5 mm, subglobose; surface smooth, black.

Phenology:— Flowering in May–June and fruiting in June–July.

Eponymy:— This new species is named in honor of Buse Topçuoğlu, an amateur botanist and nature enthusiast who first collected the new species. The Turkish name of this species is given as “Balansümbülü”, according to the guidelines of Menemen et al. (2016).

Distribution and habitat and IUCN categories:— Endemic to southwestern Anatolia, Türkiye. An East Mediterranean element. It is known from the type locality and near vicinity (between the Ula and Marmaris districts) in the province of Muğla ( Fig. 7 ), on serpentine rocky areas in Pinus brutia forest clearings. The new species colonizes only the serpentine soils, between 150 and 410 m of elevation. The new species is distributed in the Balan Mountain series, composed of serpentine soil and rocks.

The area of occupancy (Aoo) of Leopoldia buseana was calculated as 4 km 2 and according to our observations, the number of mature individuals is about 1200. It is found in 3 locations. Muğla province has been exposed to many recent forest fires. Although no fire has been detected where the species occurs, there is a high probability of fire in the area in the near future. Following the criteria laid out by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (2023), I suggest that the new species is categorized as ‘Vulnerable’ (VU) D1+D2, based on the reduced number of known individuals.

Seed morphology:— Seed coat black, 2.5–2.8 × 2.2–2.5 mm, ornamentation of seed surface “reticulate-areolate”; epidermal cell structure is “polygonal cells”; anticlinal cell wall is “raised”; periclinal cell wall is “concave”.

Pollen morphology:— Pollen grains are pale yellow, monosulcate, outline plano-convex in equatorial longitudinal view, circular in equatorial elliptic in polar view; polar axis 24–28 μm longer, equatorial diameter 36–39 μm; shape oblate; exine pattern ornamentation perforate to macroreticulate, reticulum heterobrochate. Lumina <3 μm wide (0.3– 2.2 μm), mostly circular.

Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— Muğla: Ula, uphill of Çörüş village, Pinus brutia openings, 150–350 m of elevation, 25 May 2021, K. Akbaş1329 & B. Topçuoğlu (EGE!); ibid. 24 May 2022, K. Akbaş1451 & B. Topçuoğlu (EGE!); ibid. 21 June 2022, K. Akbaş 1474 & B. Topçuoğlu (EGE!); ibid. 11 July 2022, K. Akbaş 1485- a & B. Topçuoğlu (EGE!); Marmaris, Hisarönü to Içmeler road, burned field, 16 May 2023, K. Akbaş1656 & R. Gül (EGE!); Ula, road of Gökçe to Balan Mountains, serpentine fields, Pinus brutia openings, 208 m of elevation, 11 June 2023, K. Akbaş 1676, T. Özdöl & H. Yıldırım (EGE!); Ula, Gökçe to Uğurca Mountain road, serpentine areas, 36 o 59’ N, 28 o 20’ E, 259 m of elevation, 20 June 2023, H. Yıldırım 10575, K. Akbaş & T. Özdöl (EGE!); ibid. 36 o 59’ N, 28 o 21’ E, 332 m of elevation, 20 June 2023, H. Yıldırım 10580, T. Özdöl & K. Akbaş (EGE!); Marmaris’e inmeden 3 km doğusunda yer alan serpantin orman açıklıkllar (Beldibi üstü) 480–500 m ler, 22 May 2021, T. Uysal 4322 (KNYA!); Marmaris, Marmaris’e 1 km kala yolun solundan yükselen Beldibi, serpantin yol kenarları, 400–500 m of elevation, 22 May 2021, T. Uysal 4328 (KNYA!).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Line drawing of Leopoldia buseana: A. Habitus (without inflorescence); B. Inflorescence; C 1. Fertile flower; C 2.Dissected fertile flower; D.Infructescence; E 1. Apical view of the capsule; E 2. Lateral view of the capsule. Drawn by Gürol Aytepe (A, B and C were drawn from K. Akbaş 1656; D and E were drawn from H. Yıldırım 10580).

FIGURE 2. Leopoldia buseana: A, B, C. Habitus in early flowering stage; D, E. Habitus in flowering stage.

FIGURE 3. Leopoldia buseana: A. Leaves and scape; B. Leaf surface; C. Inflorescences; D. Fertil flower buds and mature flowers; E. Capsules; F. Dissected flower; G. Bulb.

FIGURE 7. Distribution map of Leopoldia buseana (star), Leopoldia elmasii (triangle), Leopoldia muglaensis (square) and Leopoldia weissii (circle) (Map is obtained from Coğrafya Harita (2023), location data of species just added to the map according to herbarium specimens examined and Eker (2022).