Fritillaria arsusiana Yıldırım & Tekşen, 2021

Yildirim, Hasan & Tekşen, Mehtap, 2021, Fritillaria arsusiana (Lilieae, Liliaceae), a new species from southern Anatolia, Phytotaxa 502 (2), pp. 133-159 : 133-159

Fritillaria arsusiana Yıldırım & Tekşen sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–3 , Table 1).

Fritillaria arsusiana is similar to F. amana and F. hermonis , by broadly campanulate flowers and habitus features. It mainly differs from F. amana by having glaucous leaves (vs. bright shiny green), purple, purplish-brown, outer tepals sometimes yellow at the tips, inner tepals yellow at the tips and edges, rarely tessellated flowers (vs. green with reddish-brown or brown tessellated or striped, markings, rarely yellow), outer tepals 5–6 mm wide (vs. 7–12 mm), nectaries 1.5–2.5 mm wide (vs. 2.5–5 mm), 6–8 mm filaments (vs. 8–10 mm). Fritillaria arsusiana differs from F. hermonis by having 8–11 × 8–15 mm, ovoid to broadly ovoid bulb (vs. 20–30 × 20–30 mm, globose), purple, purplishbrown, outer tepals sometimes yellow at the tips, inner tepals yellow at the tips and edges, rarely tessellated flowers (vs. green with a glaucous bloom, partly tessellated, brownish-red with green fascia, or rarely all dark brown), outer segments 5–6 mm wide, lanceolate (vs. 8–16 mm, ovate-lanceolate), nectaries 3.5–4 mm long (vs. 4–9 mm long), style lobes 2–3 mm long (vs. 3–4 mm).

Type: — TURKEY. Hatay: İskenderun, Arsuz, Hacıahmetli Köyü’nden askeri radara çıkış yolu, Amanos Dağları , zirve civarı düzlük, çam ve meşe açıklıkları, serpantin topraklar, 1540 m a.s.l., 23 April 2008, H . Yıldırım 1309 (holotype, EGE 43194!; isotype, GAZI!) .

Bulb ovoid to broadly ovoid, 8–11 × 8–15 mm, with 1–3 bulblets; tunica pale brown, thin and papery. Stem 5–14 cm long, erect, smooth. Leaves 3–7, sessile, glaucous; lowest leaves 3.7–6.5 × 0.5–1.3 cm, alternate, lanceolate, lanceolate-elliptic, acute to obtuse; median leaves 2.5–5.5 × 0.15–0.7 cm, alternate, lanceolate-elliptic to linear-elliptic, acute to acuminate. Bracts 1, 2.0–4.1 × 0.1–0.3 cm, lanceolate, linear to linear-lanceolate, acuminate. Flowers 1–2. Perigone broadly campanulate, purple, purplish-brown, outer tepals sometimes yellow at the tips, inner tepals yellow at the tips and edges, rarely tessellated flowers. Outer tepals 18–28 × 5–6 mm, lanceolate, obtuse, ciliate-tufted at apex; inner tepals 18–28 × 8–10 mm, oblanceolate, obtuse, ciliate-tufted at apex. Nectaries 3.5–4 × 1.5–2.5 mm, ovate to broadly elliptic, green, purple around, placed 2.5–5 mm above tepal base. Filaments 6–8 mm long, thin, papillose, greenish-yellow; anthers 3–6 mm long, oblong, apiculate, yellow during anthesis but then brownish, dorsifixed. Style 7–10 mm long, minutely papillose, 3-lobed; lobes 2–3 mm long, smooth; stigma papillose. Capsule unknown.

Etymology:—The species epithet is derived from Arsuz district in Hatay Province, where the new species was discovered.

Suggested Turkish name:—The Turkish name for Fritillaria arsusiana is suggested as ‘arsuzlalesi’ according to the guidelines of Menemen et al. (2016).

Distribution, habitat, and phenology:— Fritillaria arsusiana is a local putative endemic species restricted to the Amanos Mountains above Arsuz, İskenderun/ Hatay in southern Anatolia. It colonizes only serpentine substrates at Pinus and Quercus openings, at an elevation of 1510–1550 m ( Fig. 3 ). Its flowering period is April to May.

Conservation status: — The new species has a very restricted distribution. The area of occupancy (AOO) for Fritillaria arsusiana was calculated as 0.45 km 2, in which about 450–500 individuals were estimated to exist. Overgrazing livestock goat was observed. In addition, some anthropogenic effects such as road constructions were observed on F. arsusiana population. According to IUCN criteria ( IUCN 2019), F. arsusiana is evaluated as “Critically Endangered” (CR) B2ab(ii, iii, v).

Taxonomic relationships:— Fritillaria amana , which spreads especially around Kahramanmaraş, has shiny green leaves, while F. hermonis , which is distributed from Lebanon to southwest Syria, has glaucous leaves ( Wallis & Wallis 2002, Rix 2011). When Rix (1974, 2011) described F. amana from Lebanon, he differentiated it as taller and largely green-flowered compared to F. hermonis , which had the characteristics of high altitude and dwarf and heavily tessellated flowers. He stated that the populations in Turkey, which spread from Amanos Mountains to Kahramanmaraş, have bright flowers while those in Lebanon and South Syria have glaucous leaves as their distinctive characteristics. Emphasizing their characteristic ovate-lanceolate with a pointed apex nectary in the populations in Lebanon, Wallis & Wallis (2002) proposed F. amana as a species due to its leaf colour and nectary shape as circular or ovate nectaries, compared to being rounded at the apex in the populations in Turkey. Wallis & Wallis (2002) pointed out the presence of some samples which did not comply with the ovate nectary and a cline with green-grey leaves of F. amana . While it is possible to assume a similarity among the purplish-brown flowered samples with glaucous leaves collected from Arsuz and the cline of F. amana with glaucous leaves stated by Rix (1974, 2011) and Wallis & Wallis (2002), and the very dark-brown populations in Mount Hermon, the flower colour of F. arsusiana is different from F. hermonis , F. amana , and the aforementioned putative cline (RRW96.45b; Wallis & Wallis 2002: 112). Additionally, some samples of F. arsusiana pose similarities with F. kurdica Boissier & Noe (1859: 193) in terms of habitus, but it is actually distinct by the ovate to broadly elliptic nectary shape (which is linear in F. kurdica ). After a detailed field excursion on Amanos Mountains, no other Fritillaria species were found in the vicinity of F. arsusiana . The closest Fritillaria population belong to F. pinardii , which is located in the Amanos Mountains near Dörtyol district of Hatay province. The distance is 78 km between the closest populations of F. pinardii and F. arsusiana , and 35 km between the closest populations of F. latakiensis and F. arsusiana . Since there is no other Fritillaria species in the immediate vicinity of F. arsusiana , it is unlikely to assume any possible hybrid origin. No plant showing intermediate morphology has been encountered either. The flower features can differ from their fresh status when pressed, as seen in Fig. 2 . It is strongly recommended to note the characteristics of F. arsusiana such as flower colour and nectary location in the field. In this study, Fritillaria arsusiana was compared morphologically with F. amana , F. hermonis , and F. wendelboi as the closest species because of broadly campanulate perigone ( Table 1) and contrasted with F. pinardii and F. latakiensis as the morphologically similar species because they also spread in Hatay. Although the size of Fritillaria arsusiana is smaller than the closest species, it is closely related to F. amana concerning the number and size of leaves, the shape and size of nectaries, filaments, anthers, size and structure of style. Fritillaria arsusiana is similar to F. hermonis with the glaucous leaves, filaments, anthers, and size and structure of style, and it is also close to F. wendelboi in terms of the number and colour of leaves, outer tepals size, and filaments. Although Fritillaria arsusiana is morphologically similar to F. pinardii with flower colour, leaf characteristics, outer tepal shape and size, stamen, and surface of style, the two species differ since the former shows broadly campanulate flower, longer and wider inner tepal, shape and placement of nectary, and shorter style lobes. On the other hand, although the new species shows similarities with Fritillaria latakiensis , which also spreads in Hatay, the latter species is different based on size (up to 45 cm), narrowly campanulate flower, narrower and longer leaves, tepals shape, nectary shape and size ( Table 1). Fritillaria arsusiana , F. amana , F. wendelboi , and F. latakiensis are distributed in the Mediterranean region of Turkey ( Fig. 3 ). Fritillaria hermonis is distributed from Lebanon to southwest Syria. Fritillaria arsusiana is distributed in Arsuz, Hatay on serpentine soils in pine and oak openings at an altitude of 1510–1550 m a.s.l. while F. amana is distributed in Kahramanmaraş and Gaziantep on stony and rocky slopes at an altitude of 1400–2400 m a.s.l. Fritillaria . wendelboi is distributed on especially limestone rocky and stony slopes at an altitude of 1150–2020 m a.s.l. in Antalya, İçel, Karaman, and southern Konya. Fritillaria hermonis also grows on limestone screes, less often on basalt, on stony slopes, and in abandoned fields at an altitude of 1400–2700 m a.s.l. ( Rix 2011). Although F. pinardii is the most widely distributed species in Turkey ( Tekşen & Aytaç 2011, Tekşen 2018), there is only one locality record in Hatay (Appendix, Fig. 3 ). It is distributed on meadows, pinewoods, Quercus scrubs, alpine steppes, stony and rocky slopes, limestone and serpentine screes, edge of fields at an altitude of 700–2550 m. According to the recent field studies, a F. pinardii population was discovered under Pinus nigra forest at an altitude of 1830 m in Amanos Mountains around Dörtyol, Hatay (Appendix 1, Fig. 3 ). Fritillaria latakiensis is also distributed in Hatay under macquie on stony places at an altitude of 750–1000 m a.s.l. Fritillaria arsusiana is distributed up to 1550 m altitude while F. amana , F. wendelboi , F. hermonis , and F. pinardi grow in higher altitudes.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Fritillaria arsusiana sp. nov. (A-B-C-D. habits, E. flowers).

FIGURE 2. Holotype of Fritillaria arsusiana sp. nov.

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Fritillaria arsusiana sp. nov. (red star), F. amana (blue circle), F.wendelboi (yellow square), F. hermonis (red rhombus), F. pinardii (black triangle), and F. latakiensis (turquosie square).