Allium muratozelii Armağan, 2021

Armağan, Metin, 2021, Allium muratozelii (Amaryllidaceae), a new species from Turkey, Phytotaxa 498 (4), pp. 255-264 : 256-262

Allium muratozelii Armağan sp. nov. ( Figs. 1 , 2 )

The new species differs from A. colchicifolium by its taller scape (18–30 cm, not 4–6 cm), leaf length shorter than scape (not much longer than scape), margin of tepals entire (not obtuse or subacute with cucullate apex, upper margins denticulate-serrate), and filament entirely white (not purplish basal and fading to white upper part).

Type:— TURKEY. Tunceli: 26 km from Tunceli to Ovacık ( Munzur Valley ), steppe, 1100 m, 39°15’41.0”N 39°28’06.0”E, 30 April 2015, M.Özel & M.Armağan 6688 (holotype KNYA-26923!; isotypes AEF!, NGBB!) .

Description: —Bulb globose, 1.5–2.0 cm in diam.; outer tunics papery, brownish black; inner tunics parchmentlike, whitish (held at ca. 4.5 cm below ground). Scape 18–30 cm, straight, terete, smooth. Leaves 1 (rarely 2), lamina elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, acute, shorter than scape, 11–13 × 2.5–4 cm, margins smooth and cartilaginous, narrowing towards tip and base, green with glaucous bloom, glabrous. Spathe membranous, split into 2–3, patent to reflexed, broadly ovate valves, shorter than pedicels, pinkish with dark striate. Inflorescence broadly fastigiate to semiglobose, dense, many-flowered; 5–6 cm in diam. Pedicels thin, subequal, 15–20 mm, straight or later ascending; green. Perigon stellate; tepals oblong, patent and ascending, naviculate, obtuse or subacute apex, entire margins, 6–7 × 1.8–2.5 mm, white with green or white median vein, after anthesis reflexed and somewhat crumpled. Filaments near the base broadly triangular, 1/2 as long as the tepals, white. Anthers ca. 2.0 mm long, yellow. Ovary sessile, depressed globose triangular with three furrows, surface ± smooth, glossy, blackish purple. Style thread-like, 1.6–1.8 mm long, purple. Stigma undivided. Capsule rounded tripartite, surface with coarsely reticulate ledges, 4–5 mm long. Seeds usually resemble lung lobes, black, 2.8 (± 0.2) × 1.9 (± 0.23) mm, the range of the L/W ratio 1.51 (± 0.2), with less pronounced warts on the surface.

Flowering time: —from April to May.

Fruiting time: —from May to June.

Etymology:— The new species was named in honour of Murat Özel who provided significant assistance during the field work and collected the specimens.

Suggested Turkish name:— The Turkish name of this species is suggested as “Azizabdal Soğanı” according to the guidelines of Menemen et al. (2013).

Distribution, habitat and ecology:— A. muratozelii is only known from Tunceli in the Eastern Anatolia. It grows on slopes of limestone bedrock with other plants typical of the Irano-Turanian steppe vegetation. It particularly prefers oak openings.

Conservation status: — Allium muratozelii is a species endemic to a restricted area of Turkey, being only known from two locations. According to the observations and field studies, its extent of occurrence (EOO) is less than 20 km 2 with the number of mature individuals being less than 250 (criteria B2 ab (i, iii) of IUCN 2012), and the area of occupancy (AOO) is less than 10 km 2. Due to a planned construction of a dam within the distribution area of the new species, the area of occupancy will be soon further narrowed. A second location of the new species is under threat due to mining activities. For these reasons, the quality of habitat may be deteriorated or vanished, and the number of individuals in populations may decrease accordingly. Therefore, the conservation status of the new species is assessed as CR (Critically Endangered) based on IUCN criteria ( IUCN 2012).

Additional specimens examined:— TURKEY. Tunceli: 14 km from Tunceli-Pülümür-Sütlüce crossroads to Çıralı village (Southeast of Azizabdal mountain), steppe, 1800 m, 23 May 2014, M.Özel & M.Armağan 3824 (paratype GAZI!). Ibid. 09 July 2020, M.Özel & M.Armağan 8338 ( HUB!), Tunceli-Ovacık arası, 1100 m, 17 Apr 1979, T. Baytop (ISTE 41792! identified as A. colchicifolium ) .

Additional specimens examined of other species:— Allium colchicifolium ( Fig. 5 ). TURKEY. Elazığ: in subalpinis prope Bakır Maden, May 1852, Noë 706 (holotype G!, isotype W!); Yaylım dağı, Derekan mah., 1650 m, steppe, 17 June 1983, H.Evren 1478 (AEF!); Sivrice, Kürk köyü, köyün kuzeybatısındaki yamaçlar, 1550 m, 03 July 2009, İ.Genç 1414 (ISTE!); Bitlis: 20 km S of Bitlis, 1830 m, 27 May 1961, H.C. Stutz 1443 (W!); Diyarbakır: mountains between Diyarbakır and Elazığ, 1100 m, 18 May 1967, F.Campbell 54 (K!); Kahramanmaraş: Süleymanlı- Berit dağı arası, 1800-2000 m, kalkerli doğu yamaç, 18 May 1978, B.Yıldız 1893 (AEF!); Siirt: Sason, Sason dağları, Hallis dağ Massif, lower slopes above Seyhan W of Sason, 1300 m, 20 May 1967, Albury, Cheese, and Watson 1167 (K!); Van: Çatak, Kayaboğazı köyüne 2 km, Artos dağı etekleri, 2200-2500 m, sulak çayırlar, 4 May 1985, N.Özhatay s.n. (ISTE!). A. straussii (identified as A. colchicifolium ). IRAN. Kermanshah: in monte Kuh-i Kinisht, 08 June 1909, Strauss s.n. (G!).

Seed morphology: —The seeds of Allium muratozelii have a broadly ovate-oblong shape and a slightly wrinkled surface. Seed size is 2.48–3.14 × 1.55–2.35 mm, and the range of the L/W ratio is 1.18–1.90. These seeds show suborbicular to elliptic testa cells as the dominant shape, S- to omega-like strongly undulated anticlinal walls, and many convex variably sized verrucae on the periclinal walls ( Figs. 3, 4 ). The seed characters have provided beneficial systematic contributions at various taxonomic level in the genus Allium ( Celep et al. 2012, Lin & Tan 2017). Allium muratozelii shows the general seed micromorphology characteristics found in species of the section Melanocrommyum .

Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes: —Herbarium and literature investigations revealed that A. colchicifolium is quite problematic from the taxonomical point of view. Indeed, many specimens were wrongly attributed to A. colchicifolium , such as specimens of the proposed new species previously collected from Tunceli province. In the herbarium specimens previously attributed to A. colchicifolium and examined here, plant height, leaf shape and number, and length of flower elements conflict with the holotype. Therefore, all the comparisions with A. colchicifolim conducted in this study were only based on the protologue and holotype of this species.

Allium colchicifolium is morphologically similar to A.haussknechtii Nábělek (1929: 37) and A.straussii Bornmüller (1911: 515) , which were previously treated as its synonyms ( Wendelbo 1971 - 1985, Kollman 1984). Nevertheless, A. haussknechtii differs from A. colchicifolium by having a funnel-shaped star-like perigone with oblong-lanceolate, acute tepals with entire margins, and whitish-green filaments, whereas A. straussii , which is known from western Iran, differs by its leaves, usually two and dimoprhic in size (outer leaf 18 × 8 cm, inner leaf ca. 10 × 2.5 cm), with shallow broad ribs, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, concave, obliquely sideward directed, and after anthesis longitudinally convolute and stiff tepals. Because of these distinct morphological features, Fritsch & Abbasi (2013) resurrected both A. haussknechtii and A. straussii . The new species, A. muratozelii , on the other hand, differs from all these three species by its leaf shape, tepal margin, and scape length. Detailed morphological differences/similarities between A. muratozelii and A. colchicifolium are summarized in the diagnosis and Table 1.

Another name, A. bischoffii Hausskn. ex Dinsmore (1933: 645) , is found in literature as a synonym of A. colchicifolium . However, A. bischoffii was not validly published, because is synonymized with A. haussknechtii in the protologue, and is hence automatically typified by this latter name. The lectotype of A. haussknechtii was designated by Fritsch &Abbasi (2009) who selected the specimen “ Haussknecht 444 ”. On the other hand, though the specimen Haussknecht 880 was identified as A. haussknechtii by Nabelek (1929), it was later attributed to a A. colchicifolium by Fritsch & Abbasi (2013). However, according to the results found here, all the samples identified as A. bischoffii by Haussknecht belong to A. haussknechtii . To sum up, our comprehensive field, herbarium and literature studies have shown that A. colchicifolium is only known from eastern part of Turkey. All the other specimens from outside of Turkey treated in floras and herbaria belong to other species, i.e. A. haussknechtii and A. straussii .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Allium muratozelii a) habitus, b) mature capsules, c) inflorescence and flowers, d) leaf, e) bulb.

FIGURE 2. Holotype of Allium muratozelii (KNYA-26923!), and drawings of a) tepals and filaments, and b) pistil.

FIGURE 4. Scanning electron micrographs of a seed of Allium muratozelii. a) testa and b) details of testa cells.

FIGURE 5. Holotype of Allium colchicifolium (Noë 706): a) whole plant, b) tepals, c) leaf margin.