Gladiolus aladagensis Eker & Sağıroğlu, 2021

Sağiroğlu, Mehmet & Eker, İsmail, 2021, Gladiolus aladagensis (Iridaceae), a new species from Turkey, Phytotaxa 478 (1), pp. 151-161 : 152-158

Gladiolus aladagensis Eker & Sağıroğlu sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–2 ).

Gladiolus aladagensis is close to G. italicus by its habitus and to G.kotschyanus by its number of leaves (2). It is also similar to both species in having obovoid fruit. It mainly differs from G. italicus by having 2 leaves (not 4 – 5), spike with 3–5 flowers (not 6–12), shorter anthers 7–10 mm (not 12–16 mm), longer filaments 13–15 mm (not 8–10 mm), winged seeds (vs. unwinged), seed colour (light brown vs. reddish brown), and differs from G. kotschyanus by having narrower leaves [(2–)3–6(–9) mm vs. 4–12(–20) mm] reaching the spike (vs. leaves not reaching the spike), moderately dense spike (not distinctly dense), purplish flowers (not violetpurple), slightly curved perianth tube (not distinctly curved), longer upper median segments (30–32 mm vs. 25–28 mm), winged seeds (vs. unwinged), seed shape (obovoid-oblanceolate vs. orbicular-oblong). ( Table 1; Figs. 1–3 ).

Type:— TURKEY. A3 Bolu: Between Karacasu-Kıbrıscık , 34. km, along stream bed in the Pinus sylvestris forest openings, 1484 m of elevation, 07 July 2019 , İ. Eker 12727 & M. Sağıroğlu (holotype AIBU!; isotypes Herbarium of Sakarya University!, GAZI!, HUB!).

Paratypes:— TURKEY. A3 Bolu: Between Karacasu-Kıbrıscık , 34. km, along stream bed in the Pinus sylvestris forest openings, 1484 m of elevation, 26 July 2020 , İ. Eker 13052 & M. Sağıroğlu (in fruit); ibid., 17 July 2020 , M. Sağıroğlu 6796; ibid., 1462 m of elevation, 19 June 2012 , İ. Eker 2938 & S. Demir ; ibid., 28. km, along stream bed in the Pinus sylvestris forest openings, 1416 m of elevation, 19 June 2012 , İ. Eker 2936 & S. Demir ( AIBU!, Herbarium of Sakarya University!)

Perennial, glabrous herb. Corm orbicular-ovate, 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–2.2 cm; tunics 3–4-layered, coriaceous with parallel fibres. Stem 50–80 cm long, erect, 2–4 mm diameter at base. Cataphylls 3, basal and middle membranous and obscure, upper leaf-like, pale green, acute. Leaves 2(–3 vaguely if any), linear-lanceolate, 15–40 cm × (2–)3–6(–9) mm, acute, venation irregularly spaced, glaucous, leaves reach the spike, waxy layer weak; lower leaves away from upper cataphylls, lower and upper leaves far from each other. Bracts lanceolate, valves unequal, purple-green, membranous at margin and 1–1.5 mm wide; upper bracts 2–5 cm long, lower ones 1–2 cm long. Inflorescence 3–5(–8)-flowered, moderately dense, spike usually secund in flower and distichous in fruit, usually flexed, 3–6(–8) cm long. Perianth purplish; tubes slightly curved, posterior 9–12 mm long, anterior 11–14 mm long; upper segments 5–8 mm long clawed, upper median segment broadly sphatulate, 30–32 × 12–18 mm, acute; upper lateral segment spatulate, 28–30 × 9–12 mm, acute. Lower segments 7–12 mm long clawed; lower median segment spatulate, 25–28 × 8–12 mm, acute; lower lateral segment spatulate, 22–26 × 7–10 mm, acute. Filaments 13–15 mm long, adnate to perigon tube, filiform, widened at the base; anthers shorter than flaments, 7–10 mm long, yellow, basifixed, included. Ovary 3-locular; style filiform, usually yellow and sometimes upper part purplish, 30–32 mm long; stigma 3 equal oblong-linear branches, branches 3–4 mm long. Fruit a 3-loculicidal capsule, obovoid-oblong, 8–13 × 7–10 mm, many seeded; seeds 3–5.25 × 2–3.2 mm, obovoid, light brown, winged, wings 0.5 wide. Flowering and fruiting in June–July.

Eponymy: —The specific epithet of new species is derived from Aladağlar/ Bolu, where the new species was first discovered.

Turkish common name of the new species: — Gladiolus is called “ Kılıçotu ” in Turkish. The authors propose “ Aladağ kılıçotu ” as a vernacular name for G. aladagensis according to the guidelines of Menemen et al. (2016).

Distribution and habitat: — Gladiolus aladagensis is known only from a very restricted area in Aladağlar/ Bolu ( Fig. 4 ). Aladağlar and its surroundings is a very interesting area as concerns plant diversity, being very rich in local endemics, such as Alchemilla boluensis Menemen & Hamzaoğlu (2003: 325) , Allium efeae Özhatay & Genç (2014: 1022) , Cirsium boluense Davis & Parris (1975: 415) , Dianthus aticii Hamzaoğlu (2015: 22) , and Jasione supina Sieber ex Sprengel (1824: 810) subsp. akmanii Damboldt (1976: 51) . Gladiolus aladagensis grows along stream beds in the Pinus sylvestris Linnaeus (1753: 1000) forest openings at 1400 to 1500 m of elevation.

Species conservation assessment: — Gladiolus aladagensis is known from two close localities and its area of occupancy (AOO) is less than 20 km 2 (criterion B2); the number of locations is less than five (a), and there is an estimated continuing decline (b) in occupancy (ii), quality of habitat (iii), number of mature individuals (less than 500) (v). Although the distribution area of the new species is in forest clearings, there are many villages in the immediate vicinity, and ongoing grazing activities of cattle, sheep or goats are frequently seen in the area. Therefore, the th reat category of the species is assessed as ‘Endangered’ (EN) (criterion B2ab [ii, iii, v]) ( IUCN 2019).

Taxonomic relationships: — Gladiolus italicus is a widespread species and found in many localities in Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and Turkey. It is often a weed of cultivated and fallow fields, and is also found in disturbed areas, limestone slopes and escarpments, on basalt, and sand dunes, from sea level to 1650 m a.s.l. Gladiolus aladagensis is found in two close localities in Bolu-Aladağlar region over 1400 m, generally in creek beds and areas close to water. Gladiolus italicus grows in localities close to G. aladagensis but in abovementioned different habitats. Gladiolus aladagensis is similar to G. italicus in some of its morphological characteristics (e.g., similar habit, slightly curved perianth tube, obovoid capsule). Therefore, some Gladiolus specimens collected from this region in the past had been identified as G. italicus . Although G. aladagensis resembles G. italicus in some of its characters, it differs from it in many other characters ( Table 1). It should be especially noted that in the Flora of Turkey (Kit Tan & Edmonson 1984), flower color of G. italicus was indicated as purplish. This is probably due to the evaluation of G. aladagensis populations under G. italicus , which has instead pale pink, purplish-red or magenta flowers. Another significant difference between the two taxa is that the number of seeds in the capsule (60–80) of G. aladagensis is higher than that of G. italicus (15–25). The seeds are also prominently winged in G. aladagensis compared to that of G. italicus (wingless). Gladiolus aladagensis is also similar to G. kotschyanus in having two leaves and obovoid capsule. However, it is separated from G. kotschyanus by its leaves reaching or passing the spike, purplish flower color, slightly curved perianth tube, and winged seeds ( Table 1; Figs. 1–3 ).

Since some of the characters used to distinguish Gladiolus species in the Flora of Turkey (Kit Tan & Edmonson 1984) overlap, they have led to misdiagnoses, or possible new Gladiolus species have been unwittingly evaluated as populations of existing Gladiolus species. For example, in the Flora of Turkey, whether the spacing in leaf lamina veins is equal or not is not a distinctive character in practice. Therefore, we provide here a diagnostic key for Turkish Gladiolus species using other characters than the ones used in the flora of Turkey. We also inlcuded a recently described species, namely G. hamzaoglui H.Duman, Sağıroğlu & Tekşen in Tekşen et al. (in press). We believe that with this key, Gladiolus samples collected from different localities will be easier to identify.

Erol et al. (2006), Karaismailoglu (2015) and Karaismailoglu et al. (2018) suggested that the seed characters, which are not sufficiently used in Iridaceae , have a very important systematic value in the genus Gladiolus , and they should be used in species distinction. Some species in Turkey have winged seeds (e.g. G. halophilus Boissier & Heldreich [1854: 14] and G. illyricus Koch [1837: 699] ), while other species have wingless seeds (e.g. G. italicus and G. kotschyanus ).

Comparative seed micromorphology with close species:— Gladiolus aladagensis differs from G. italicus in terms of seed shape (obovoid vs. triquetrous), ornamentation on the seed body (colliculate vs. reticulate-foveolate, rugulate), wing (0.5 mm vs. unwinged), periclinal cell walls (convex, sometimes minutely rugulate vs. convex or flat, reticulate, reticulate-rugulate), cuticle type on the seed body (rugose and well-developed vs. smooth or rugose, welldeveloped). Gladiolus aladagensis is similar to G. italicus in terms of polygonal, more or less isodiametric, oblong epidermal cells; uniformly thickened, and straight anticlinal cell walls. The new species differs from G. kotschyanus in terms of seed dimensions (3–5.25 × 2–3.2 mm vs. 2.55–3.58 × 1.5–2.1 mm), shape (obovoid vs. oblong-obovoid), colour (light brown vs. brown), ornamentation on the seed body (colliculate vs. colliculate or reticulate-foveate), wing (0.5 mm vs. unwinged), periclinal cell walls (convex, sometimes minutely rugulate vs. convex or concave, coarsely rugulate). Gladiolus aladagensis is similar to G. kotschyanus in terms of rugose and well-developed cuticle type on the seed body; polygonal, more or less isodiametric, oblong epidermal cells; uniformly thickened, and straight anticlinal cell walls ( Table 2, Fig. 3 ).

Selected specimens examined: — Gladiolus italicus . TURKEY. Adana: Karsantı, Karsantı-Söğüt road, 3. km, limestone bedrock, Pinus brutia community, 880 m of elevation, 26 May 1973, E. Yurdakulol 94 (ANK 10263!); Adıyaman: between Kahta-Gerger, 23 km west of Gerger, 720 m of elevation, 30 May 1987, M. Nydegger 42559 (G[photo]!); Amasya: Amasya, 500 m of elevation, 20 May 1890, Bornmueller 2611 (G[photo]!); Antalya: Alanya Bay, 2 m of elevation, fallow field, 12 April 1956, P.H. Davis 25915 & O. Polunin (E 003375230!); Aydın: Söke, Karine, Görünmez Stream, 35 m of elevation, 10 May 1975, T. Uslu 5010 (G!); Bartın: Ulus, Ulukaya, Bayraklı Tepesi district, 350–424 m of elevation, 21 May 2013, B. Tunçkol 2855 (DUOF 0007138!); Burdur: between Burdur- Antalya, 25 km south of Burdur, wheat field, 960 m of elevation, 21 May 1950, A. Huber-Morath 10367 (G[photo]!); Çanakkale: between Çanakkale-Ezine, 19 May 1967, N. Tanker 11043 (K[photo]!); Erzurum: Tortum, Dardağunuk district, 1600 m of elevation, 26 May 1984, Ş. Yıldırımlı 6230 (HUB 36150!); Eskişehir: Türkmen Mountain, İnli Village, c. 1100 m of elevation, 17 June 1976, T. Ekim s.n. (ANK 2378!); Gaziantep: between Gaziantep-Besni, cultivated lands, cornfields, 10 May 1935, E.K. Balls 2235 (BM[photo]!, E 003375222!, K[photo]!); Hatay: Arsuz, Gözcüler, 3 km from Hacıahmetler Village to mountain road, 450 m of elevation, below Pinus brutia , 26 May 2002, A.A. Dönmez 10663 & B. Mutlu (HUB 38412!); İçel: Anamur, Anamur-Ermenek road, 15. km, maquis, 400 m of elevation, 02 May 1993, M. Koyuncu 9768 et al. (AEF 18021!); İstanbul: Zekeriyaköy-Uskumruköy, 22 May 1898, G.V. Aznavour s.n. (G[photo]!); İzmir: Çeşme, Ovacık Village, Akarca district, 50 m of elevation, 26 April 1979, M. Coşkun 452 et al. (AEF 6670!); Kahramanmaraş: Ahir Mountain, c. 1100 m of elevation, 22 May 1934, E.K. Balls 789B (ANK!); Kastamonu: between İnebolu-Cide, c. 100 m of elevation, 31 May 1978, O. Ketenoğlu s.n. (ANK 797!); Kocaeli: Karamürsel-Safiye Village road, 15. km, 450 m of elevation, 03 June 2013, M.S. Yılancı 1799 (Hb. of Sakarya University!); Konya: Yassıkaya Village, east of Ereğli, ruderal, 1500 m of elevation, 09 June 1979, R. Carle & H. Kurschner VO 4674 (E 00337546!); Manisa: Manisa Mountain, Atalanı, 13 June 1966, A. Baytop 9936 (K[photo]!); Muğla: Dalaman-Çaldağı, Kavacık Village, Armutalan Street, Kavaklıkuyu district, meadow, 640–645 m of elevation, 13 April 2013, S. Dalgıç 1351 (Hb. of Sakarya University!); Niğde: Pozantı-Ulukışla road, 10. km, cliffs, 750 m of elevation, 20 June 1995, Z. Aytaç 5877 et al. (GAZI!); Osmaniye: Nur Dağı Pass, 1150 m of elevation, 26 May 1985, P.S. Wagener s.n. (G[photo]!); Sakarya: Pamukova, Akıncı Village, 570 m of elevation, 04 May 2016, M. Sağıroğlu 4998 (Hb. of Sakarya University!); Samsun: from Vezirköprü to Kızılırmak, 350 m of elevation, 20 April 1969, C. Tobey 2821 (E 00337571!); Sinop: northeast of Boyabat, 1100 m of elevation, 09 June1979, E. Pasche MPR 79/28 et al. (E 00337544!); Sivas: between Suşehri-Değirmentaşı Village, road and field edges, 1000–1200 m of elevation, 27 June 1985, B. Yıldız 5788 & N. Çelik (GAZI!); Şırnak: 9 km from Cizre to İdil, pods field, 560 m of elevation, 13 May 1966, P.H. Davis 42885 (E 00337521!); Tekirdağ: 15 km from Tekirdağ to Silivri road, wild cultivated areas, 0–20 m of elevation, 11 May 1962, T.R. Dudley 34696 (E 00337543!); Tunceli: between Tunceli-Pülümür, c. 10 km from Pülümür, 1000 m of elevation, field margin, 07 June 1957, P.H. Davis 29204 & I. Hedge (E 00337547!). Gladiolus kotschyanus . TURKEY. Ağrı: 21 km from Patnos to Tutak, fields, 1675 m of 08 June 2008, İ. Eker 2201 (AIBU!); Artvin: Ardanuç, Kordevan Mountain, 1450 m of elevation, meadows on the edge of Picea forest, 27 June 1957, P.H. Davis 30121 & I. Hedge (E 00337633!); Bayburt: West of Güvercinlik Village, Vauk Mountain, damp places, 1900 m of elevation, 12 July 1989, Z. Aytaç 2835 (GAZI!); Bitlis: Adilcevaz, Çanakyayla Village, slopes of Süphan Mountain, 2500–2800 m of elevation, 13 July 1986, R. İlarslan 88 (ANK!); Erzincan: Above Kızlarkalesi, moist meadows, 2400 m of elevation, 28 June 1990, A. Güner 7815 & H. Karaca (NGBB 002804!); Erzurum: c. 16 km west of Pasinler, 1700 m of elevation, 25 June 1978, E. Pasche Jr. P 78/13 (E 00337626! & E 00337629!); Gümüşhane: 25 km beyond Bayburt on road Trabzon-Erzurum, limestone valley, 01 June 1963, J. Nicholas 536 (E 00337612!); Hakkari: 10 km from Esendere to Yüksekova, riverside, 2150 m of elevation, 18 June 1966, P.H. Davis 45214 (E 00337595!); Isparta: Sütçüler, Kuzca Village, Totabeli, P. nigra forest, limestone rock, 1400–1500 m of elevation, 05 June 1975, H. Peşmen & A. Güner 2101 (HUB 36127!); Kahramanmaraş: Engizek Mountain, around Tevekkeli Village, field edge, 1500–1600 m of elevation, 28 May 1988, H. Duman 3902 (GAZI!); Kars: Ardahan-Yalnızçam, 1900 m of elevation, cornfield, 16 June 1957, P.H. Davis 29599 & I. Hedge (E 00337603! & K[photo]!); Kayseri: Pınarbaşı, river swamp, 18 June 1954, P.H. Davis 21931 (BM[photo]!, E 00337634!, K[photo]!); Mardin: Mardin, marshy fields, 1100 m of elevation, 24 May 1957, P.H. Davis 28538 & I. Hedge (E00337621!); Muş: Alparslan Agricultural Enterprise Directorate, fields, 1284 m of elevation, 18 May 2006, İ. Eker 1548 (AIBU!); Rize: Çamlıhemşin, surrounding of Zilkale, medow, 850 m of elevation, 09 June 1982, A. Güner 4405 (ANK! & HUB 36159!); Siirt: Beşiri-Kurtalan, 27 km from Kurtalan, wet meadows, 500 m of elevation, 14 May 1966, P.H. Davis 42955 (E 00337599! & K[photo]!); Sivas: Yıldızeli, Demirözü Village, 08 July 1998, M. Kartal (AEF 17543!); Tokat: Çamlıbel Mountain, damp slopes, 1700 m of elevation, 23 June 1980, M. Koyuncu 6106 (AEF 12308!); Tunceli: Pülümür, slopes of Kuzdere Hill, 1500–1700 m of elevation, 14 June 1980, Ş. Yıldırımlı 3181 (HUB 36163!); Van: Lower slopes of Kavuşşahap Mountain, east of Bahçesaray, west facing slopes, steppe, 2700 m of elevation, 02 July 1986, J.C. Archibald 7626 (E 00337628!); Yozgat: Akdağmadeni, Karababa Mountain, south of Çerçelan Village, Pinus sylvestris , Juniperus excelsa communities, 1800–2000 m of elevation, 02 July 2008, B. Özüdoğru 2093 et al. (HUB!).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Investigated Gladiolus species. a–c: G. aladagensis habit, inflorescence and flower, d–f: G. italicus habit, inflorescence and flower, g–i: G. kotschyanus habit, inflorescence and flower (photographed by İ. Eker).

FIGURE 2. Gladiolus aladagensis. A: habit (1. lower part, 2. middle part, 3. upper part), B: flower, C: stamen, D: stilus and stigma, E: capsule, F: seed (illustrated by F. Şen; Collection no: İ. Eker 12727 & M. Sağıroğlu).

FIGURE 3. Seed micromorphology of investigated Gladiolus species. a–c: G. aladagensis (Coll. no: M. Sağıroğlu 6796) LM photo, SEM (×500 magnified) photo, SEM (×2000 magnified) photo; d–f: G. italicus (Coll. no: M. Sağıroğlu 4998) LM photo, SEM (×500 magnified) photo, SEM (×2000 magnified) photo; g–i: G. kotschyanus (Coll. no: Z. Aytaç 2835) LM photo, SEM (×500 magnified) photo, SEM (×2000 magnified) photo.

FIGURE 4. Distribution map of Gladiolus aladagensis (red circles), G. italicus (blue triangles) and G. kotschyanus (green squares) in Turkey.