Iris ser. Lacteae Doronkin (1990: 412)

Boltenkov, Eugeny V., Artyukova, Elena V., Kozyrenko, Marina M. & Blasi, Anna Trias-, 2018, Iris tibetica, a new combination in I. ser. Lacteae (Iridaceae) from China: evidence from morphological and chloroplast DNA analyses, Phytotaxa 338 (3), pp. 223-240 : 235-236

Iris ser. Lacteae Doronkin (1990: 412)

= I. subg. Eremiris Spach (1846: 32) ≡ Eremiris (Spach) Rodionenko (2006: 1707)

= I. subsect. Ensatae Diels (1930: 502), quoad descr., typo excl. [quod ab ser. Laevigatae pertinens] ≡ I. ser. Ensatae (Diels) Lawrence (1953: 362) , pro parte, typo excl.

= I. sect. Haloiris Doronkin (1990: 412)

Type (designated by Doronkin 1990: 412):— I. lactea Pallas (1776: 713) .

1. Iris lactea Pallas (1776: 713) ≡ Eremiris lactea (Pall.) Rodionenko (2006: 1708) ≡ Limniris lactea (Pall.) Peruzzi et al. (2014: 276) — Iris ensata auct., non Thunberg (1794: 328). Protologue citation:—“Obseruaui in desertis aridis circa lacum Tarei Dauuriae”. Type (neotype, designated here by E. V. Boltenkov):— RUSSIAN FEDERATION. [Zabaykalsky Krai], ad Tarei Nor, [fl.], [June 1772], [Pallas] s.n. ( BM 000958418!, right-hand side specimen).

Distribution and habitat:—This species is widespread in southern Siberia, eastern Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia, northern parts of Gansu, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Shanxi provinces, and northern and western Xinjiang Province), northern Kyrgyzstan (Chuy Valley); it has naturalized in southern Xizang Province of China and northern Pakistan. It is usually found in steppe and desert regions at elevations ranging from 200 to 2500 m and even up to 4270 m in Xizang Province. The plant grows mostly on saline soils of stony or sandy steppes, on rubbly slopes, and on grass meadows located in river valleys and on lake banks. In Xizang, it is very common along irrigation channels and waste lands, in parks and gardens, marshes, and on banks of streams.

2. Iris oxypetala Bunge (1833: 63) ≡ Eremiris oxypetala (Bunge) Rodionenko (2006: 1708) — Iris ensata auct., non Thunb. Protologue citation:—“Hab. frequens in montosis et pratensibus [China boreali]”. Type (lectotype, designated by Grubov 1970: 31, as “type”):— CHINA. [Beijing], China, 1831, Bunge s.n. (LE 01011526!).

Distribution and habitat:—This species is distributed in China (Anhui, Beijing, Chongqing, southern Gansu, Hebei, southern Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, northern Sichuan, and Tianjin provinces) and the Korean Peninsula; it has naturalized in Russian Federation (Primorsky Krai: Ussuriysky and Khasansky districts), in Fergana Valley (eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan, and northern Tajikistan), in northern India (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand), southeastern Kazakhstan, northern and western Pakistan (Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Punjab, Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa, and Kurram Valley), and Japan. This plant usually occurs in sunlit areas under dry conditions at elevations ranging from sea level to 2500 m; in northern India, the species is distributed up to 3500 m. It is found growing on grass meadows with tamped soil and on open grassy hillsides, in dry steppe, on grassy lake banks and near rivers, as well as on sandy and clayey seashores. It is a common roadside weed, colonizing abandoned fields and pastures.

3. Iris tibetica (Dykes) Bolt. comb. & stat. nov. Basionym:— I. ensata f. tibetica Dykes (1916: 194) . Protologue citation:—“… from Sining [Xining] throughout the Da-Tung Alps to 11,000 feet ”. Type (lectotype, designated here by E.V. Boltenkov):— CHINA. [Qinghai Province], inordinately abundant on all the open loess plains and slopes from

Sining throughout the Da-Tung Alps, (I. sp. “ hyacinthina ”), up to 11000, [fl.], May–June [1915], [R. Farrer & W. Purdom] 496 (E00711784!).

Distribution and habitat:—This is a narrow endemic species to China, distributed over the southern spurs of the Qilian Mountains, in Gansu Province (Dingxi: Lintao County; Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture: Jonê, Têwo, and Lintan counties; Lanzhou: Yongdeng and Yuzhong counties; Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture: Yongjing County; Wuwei: Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County; Zhangye: Shandan and Sunan counties) and eastern Qinghai Province (Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture: Gonghe and Xinghai counties; Haibei Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture: Menyuan Hui Autonomous County; Haidong: Hualong and Huzhu counties, Ledu District; Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture: Jainca and Tongren counties; Xining: Datong, Huangzhong, and Huangyuan counties). It is found growing at high elevations only (2000–3800 m above sea level), predominantly in the subalpine zone. It is common on open grassy loess plains and moist slopes, along roadsides, on steep scrubby hillsides, gorge bottoms, and in cultivated valleys; also, it occurs in river valleys, particularly on open grassy meadows along right tributaries of the Yellow River (Baoku, Datong, Tao, and Wei). This plant prefers hard, poor soil in hot places, while in richer, moist places it tends to run to leaf and rarely blooms ( Farrer 1917).