Tulipa scardica, Bornmuller, 1923

Shuka, Lulëzim, Tan, Kit & Siljak-Yakovlev, Sonja, 2010, Tulipa albanica (Liliaceae), a new species from northeastern Albania, Phytotaxa 10, pp. 17-25 : 20-21

Comparison with Tulipa scardica and T. schrenkii

The serpentine habitat of Tulipa albanica is similar to that of T. scardica in Radusha (locus classicus in Macedonia) and T. scardica in Mirusha region in Kosovo. According to Mayer & Micevski (1970), plants of T. scardica show great variation in several morphological characters such as leaf form, flower colour, length of filaments and anthers in different parts of its distribution range. Our field and herbarium studies confirm this variation in and between populations. Thus specimens of T. scardica from Taorska Klisura (collected by Micevski on 9 May 1964, SKO) and specimens from Mirusha region (collected by Krasniqi on 11 May 2002, herb. Pristina) have flat, slightly undulate leaves and perianth segments with a faint black basal blotch edged pale or bright yellow. The filament colour varies from blackish in Radusha (locus classicus) to white or pale purplish in tulips from Mirusha. During our fieldwork to Mirusha region on 15 May 2010, we have observed plants without any marking on their perianth segments and plants with white basal markings on their perianth. This supports the establishment of four colour forms within the T. scardica complex by Mayer & Micevski (1970). We consider the recently described T. serbica Tatić & Krivošej (1997: 733) as falling within the range of variation of T. scardica . Specimens from Crveni Bregovi-Orlov rid (collected by Micevski on 20 May 1965, SKO) have undulate leaves and flowers with a distinct black basal blotch within and superficially resemble red-flowered forms of T. albanica , but the latter can easily be distinguished by the complete absence of a black basal blotch on its perianth segments. It is noteworthy that golden-yellow flowers, which are predominant in T. albanica (comprising more than 80% of the population), have never been observed in T. scardica .

As in Tulipa scardica , variation in the colour of the perianth and stamens has also been observed in T. schrenkii native to the steppes and semi-desert areas of Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus, Daghestan, Kazakhstan, Azarbaijan, western Siberia and the Ukraine ( Botschantzeva 1982). In T. albanica we have only observed yellow and red flower forms and the stamen colour is always constant regardless of perianth colour, i.e., the filaments are always golden-yellow and the anthers dark blackish-maroon ( Fig. 2C ). Tulipa albanica differs from T. scardica and T. schrenkii by its canaliculate, strongly undulate lower leaves, the upper leaves with a long-tapering apex ( Fig. 3 ) and the absence of a black basal blotch on the perianth segments. From T. scardica it additionally differs by its golden-yellow (not whitish or blackish) filaments, smaller capsules and larger seeds. Selected morphological characters of Tulipa albanica , T. scardica and T. schrenkii are summarized in Table 1 .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Tulipa albanica: A: habit. B: flower of yellow form. C: stamens, ovary, stigma of yellow and red-flowered forms. D: capsule and seeds (enlarged). E: bulb. Bar scale 1 cm.

FIGURE 3. Leaves: A: Tulipa albanica, canaliculate and strongly undulate. B: T. scardica, flat, weakly undulate. C: T. schrenkii, flat, not or weakly undulate.