Iris khassanovii Tojibaev & Turginov, 2014

Komil, Tojibaev Sh. & Orzimat, Turginov, 2014, A new species and a new combination of Iris subgenus Scorpiris (Iridaceae) from Central Asia (Hissar Range, Pamir-Alai), Phytotaxa 158 (3), pp. 224-228 : 224-228

Iris khassanovii Tojibaev & Turginov , sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 )

Diagnosis: The new species differs from I. parvula in falcate leaf blade gradually narrowing apically (not straight with parallel margins and suddenly narrowing apically), white, not green, flowers, entire (not dissected) crest. From I. tadshikorum , it differs in white, not violet, flowers and entire (not dissected) crest; from I.linifolia , in white, not yellow, flowers.

Type:— UZBEKISTAN. Pamir-Alai : border of the Hissar Range , Baisuntau , near the village of Gumatag, Parakhnaursaj, stony slopes, 2123 m, N 38.35696 E 067.33598, 4 May 2013. Turginov 1421 ( TASH!) .

Perennial bulbous herb. Bulb ovoid, 1.0– 1.5 cm in diameter, tunics papery, brownish. Stem 5–10 сm high. Leaves with internodes inconspicuous at anthesis but elongating later, falcate, linear-lanceolate, acuminate, with white margins; lowest leaf 4–10 mm wide. Flowers 1 (2), whitish with violet veins (in herbarium specimens, flowers are whitish-yellowish-green and the violet veining is no longer visible); perianth tube 4 cm long, yellowish-green; claw (haft) of outer tepals (falls) 4–5 mm wide, with parallel margins and parallel violet veining; blade of outer tepals 6– 7 × 10–12 mm, wider than the claw, with violet veining and a violet patch. Raised crest white, denticulate, with a yellowish zone either side. Inner tepals (standards) 6–7 mm long, acute, trilobed, with central lobe 2–3 times or more longer than lateral ones, with violet veining. Petaloid style branches each with two symmetrical broad violet stripes.

Distribution and habitat: ⎯This new species is known only from the type locality in Uzbekistan, where it grows on stony slopes of Juniperus forests at 2100–2200 m. According to the field surveys of 2012-2013, the species is rare in the Uzbekistan part of the Hissar Range ( Fig. 1 ).

Etymology: ⎯The species is named in honour of the well-known researcher of monocots of Central Asia, Professor Furkat O. Khassanov.

Notes: ⎯Taxonomic studies in juno irises ( Wendelbo & Mathew 1975, Mathew 1997, Ikinci et al. 2011, Khassanov & Rakhimova 2012) have changed the nomenclature of the genus as well as enlarging the list of species. For 70 years, Soviet botanists accepted Juno at the generic level (Vvedensky, 1935, 1971), but a molecular (DNA) study of genus Iris ( Tillie et al. 2000) has shown that the junos are deeply embedded within Iris and should not be considered a separate genus. Molecular analyses have indicated that there are several distinct groups within section Juno of subgenus Scorpiris ( Ikinci et al. 2011). However, the systematic organization of section Juno at any subsectional level has not yet been developed. According to Ikinci et al. (2011), species allied to Iris parvula (subclade D2) have several common morphological characters: roots swollen above and tapering abruptly below, sheathing leaves (except in I. narynensis ), seeds usually with a small, fragile aril-like appendage and flowers in which the falls have a more or less parallel-sided haft and a toothed to markedly fimbriate crest. As well as having leaves that are usually sheathing and a claw (haft) to the outer tepals (falls) with parallel margins, the inner tepals (standards) of these species are often trilobed, with an elongate central lobe.

Geographically, these species are primarily from the Pamir-Alai, although some do extend into the Tien-Shan. The study of living plants in nature and herbarium specimens in TASH, LE and MW shows that this group consists of about seven species: I. parvula s.s., I. tadshikorum , I. khassanovii , I. vvedenskyi , I. linifolia , I. linifoliformis and I. narynensis . Some other species in the D2 clade ( Ikinci et al. 2011), such as divergent Iris magnifica (Vvedensky 1941: 518) Khassanov & Rakhimova (2012: 178) , are more distantly related to this group and can be differentiated by their expanded (winged) claws of the outer tepals and stems with more obvious internodes at or after anthesis, characters that can also be observed in three closely related species: I. hippolyti (Vvedensky 1941: 519) Kamelin (1981: 102) , I. svetlanae ( Vvedensky 1971: 322) Hall & Seissums (2011: 300) and I. maracandica (Vvedensky 1963: 426) Wendelbo (1975: 216) , which may have winged claws to their outer tepals up to 2.5 cm wide. However, in the locus classicus of Iris hippolyti in the southeastern part of the Kyzyl-Kum Desert, Mt. Koktscha, we collected some plants without winged claws, which were close to I. narbutii Fedtschenko (1941: 515) . Iris narbutii and its relative I. warleyensis Foster (1902: 386) also occupy a more distant position in clade D2, despite both species having outer tepals without expanded claws; they do not belong to the Iris parvula group ( Ikinci et al., 2011).

A combination in Iris is made here for Juno linifoliiformis Khalkuziev

Iris linifoliiformis (Khalk.) Tojibaev & Turginov , comb. nov; basionym: Juno linifoliiformis Khalkuziev, Bot. Journ. Acad. Sci. URSS , 70, 12: 1693–1695 (1985).

Distribution: ⎯Turkestan, Alai ranges. Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Study area and location of the new species.

FIGURE 2. Iris khassanovii Tojibaev & Turginov. A. Plant habit. B. Outer tepal (fall). C. Detail of raised crest on blade of fall. D. Petaloid style branch. E. Inner tepal (standard)