Muscari fatmacereniae Eker, 2019

Eker, İsmail, 2019, Muscari fatmacereniae (Asparagaceae, Scilloideae), a new species from southern Anatolia, Phytotaxa 397 (1), pp. 99-106 : 102-104

Muscari fatmacereniae Eker sp. nov. ( Figs. 1–2 )

Muscari fatmacereniae is similar to M. armeniacum and M. botryoides . but the former is easily distinguished from both latter species by its shouldered and strongly constricted flowers; blackish-brown outer tunics; gracile, mostly flat erect leaves; and lax raceme. From M. armeniacum it differs by the shorter fertile flowers and lobes, narrower orifice, scape longer than leaves, and different habitat. From M. botryoides it differs by its obovoid-urceolate flowers (not globose), smaller bulbs and narrow linear leaves (not linear-lanceolate, large and prominent ribbed) ( Table 1).

Type:— TURKEY. C5 Adana: Tufanbeyli, around Güzelim Village , on streamside in openings of pine forest, 1436 m of elevation, 09 May 2018, İ. Eker 12586 (holotype AIBU!; isotypes AIBU!, NGBB!, HUB!) .

botryoides .

Bulb ovoid, 9 – 20 mm in diameter, without bulblets. Outer tunics papery, blackish-brown; inner tunics fawn to dirty cream. Leaves 2 – 4 per scape, gracile, linear, erect, 8 – 18 × 0.2 – 0.3 cm, flattened to slightly involute, green and reddish suffused at base, without a white line, glabrous, subacute to acute. Scape 1 – 2 per bulb, 10 – 19 cm long, overtopping leaves. Raceme lax, ovate to cylindrical, 1 – 3 × 1 – 1.5 cm in flower, accrescent in fruit. Pedicels of fertile flowers 2 – 4 mm long, not or slightly elongating in fruit. Fertile flowers obovoid-urceolate, 3 – 4 × 1.5 – 2 mm, shouldered, with longitudinal grooves which become evident in the late stage and strongly constricted distally (orifice very narrow, that is smaller than 1 mm), blue to purplish-blue; lobes smaller than 0.5 mm long, white or paler than the tube, recurved. Pedicels of sterile flowers 0.1 – 1 mm. Sterile flowers narrowly obovate, 2 – 3 mm long, paler than the fertile ones. Stamens biseriate, filaments 0.6–0.8 mm long, blue, arising about the middle of tube and also above the stigma, anthers black, pollen light yellow. Ovary yellowish-green, ovate to subglobose, 1.1 – 1.3 × 1 – 1.3 mm; style greenish-blue, 0.9 – 1.3 mm long. Capsule broadly ovate to orbicular, obtuse or emarginate, 4 – 5 × 4 – 5 mm. Seeds 1 – 1.5 mm, ovoidglobose; surface slightly reticulate-rugose, blackish-brown. Flowering and fruiting in April–May.

Eponymy: —The new species is named in honour of my mother Fatma Ak and my niece Fatma Ceren Eker. Turkish name for the new species: — Muscari is called “ Müşkürüm ” or “ Sümbül ” in Turkish. The author proposes

“ Ceren sümbülü ” as a vernacular name for M. fatmacereniae according to the guidelines of Menemen et al. (2016).

Distribution and habitat: — Muscari fatmacereniae is known only from a very restricted area around Güzelim Village in Tufanbeyli district of Adana Province ( Fig. 3 ). However, it is also likely to be found in similar habitats in the immediate vicinity. It grows on streamside in openings of pine forest, at 1436 m of elevation. The natural environment of the new species is quite special (on moist fine sand) and it grows together with Ornithogalum adanense Demirci & Kaya in Demirci et al. (2014: 546) and Muscari macbeathianum Kit Tan (1988: 26) , which have been described in recent years. The new species is a plant belonging to the Mediterranean floristic region.

Species conservation assessment: —Approximately 500 mature individuals were observed at the type locality of Muscari fatmacereniae , which covers an area of 0.26 km 2. There is currently no threat to the plant’s habitat. However, it may be subject to future anthropogenic influences or to be affected by likely road extension due to its proximity to the settlement and a highway. Thus, on account of its restricted population, the species may be classified as ‘Vulnerable’ (VU) (criterion D1) ( IUCN 2016).

Taxonomic relationships: — Muscari armeniacum is a highly polymorphic species which spreads in a vast geography, and is found in different habitats in Turkey, and also in the Balkans and the Caucasus ( Figs. 3 – 4 ). Considering the general morphology of M. armeniacum , it has patent and channelled leaves. However, in some populations leaves are almost erect, but the plant has a robust habit and scattered leaves, and leaves are mostly longer than scape. In the species depicted here, the leaves are characteristically erect and almost flat, and commonly shorter than the scape. On the other hand, the shouldered and longitudinally grooved fertile flowers in the late stage of M. fatmacereniae is a rare character in Muscari . Also orifice width is very significant in Muscari taxonomy and here M. fatmacereniae and M. botryoides have narrower (smaller than 1 mm) orifice than M. armeniacum (more than 1 mm) ( Fig. 4 ). Moreover, there is usually no obvious color transition between sterile and fertile flowers in M. armeniacum in contrast to M. fatmacereniae . Muscari armeniacum lives in diverse habitat types, such as limestone slopes, rocky outcrops, and sometimes on serpentine or schist, often in juniper scrub, pine woods, phrygana, pastures, sand dunes, but is not directly dependent on aquatic habitat as found in M. fatmacereniae . We argue that detailed morphological and molecular studies on populations of M. armeniacum s.l. in Turkey, will probably recognize new taxa in this complex. Muscari fatmacereniae is also close to M. botryoides but the latter species has more robust structure, prominently ribbed, linear-oblanceolate and channelled broad leaves, bigger bulbs and dissimilar outer tunic colour. Muscari botryoides naturally occurs in Europe, with a single record from Van /East Anatolia in Turkey ( Figs. 3 – 4 ). In this context, the e-monocot (2018) stated that this plant is found in the Thrace region of Turkey. However, this record has not yet been verified. In contrast, Muscari fatmacereniae locally spreads in southern Anatolia.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Muscari fatmacereniae—a,b: habit and habitat, c: inflorescence, d: size and variations (photographed by İ.Eker).

FIGURE 2. Muscari fatmacereniae—a: habit, b: dissected fertile flower, c: fertile flower, d: inflorescence, e: capsule, f: inner side of capsule, g: seed (illustrated by G. Zare).

FIGURE 3. Distribution map of Muscari fatmacereniae (red star), M. armeniacum (yellow ground) and M. botryoides (purple triangle) in Turkey.

FIGURE 4. a–g: Muscari armeniacum—a: Gölköy/Bolu (forest form with loose and slanted leaves), b: Seben/Bolu (giant form on clay), c: Abant/Bolu (inflorescence), d: Buzluk Dağı/Amasya (erectopatent broad leaves), e: Akseki/Antalya (alpine form, with darker flowers), f: Kızılcahamam/Ankara (inflorescence), g: Beyşehir/Konya (forest clearing form with patent leaves); h–j: Muscari botryoides—Başkale/ Van; k: flowers of close taxa under stereomicroscope (each interval in ruler represents 0.5 mm) (photographed by İ.Eker).