Iris lactea f. chrysantha (Zhao) Bolt.

Boltenkov, Eugeny V., 2018, Taxonomic notes on Iris ser. Lacteae (Iridaceae) with typifications of fifteen names and one new combination, Phytotaxa 383 (3), pp. 283-292 : 288

3. Iris lactea f. chrysantha (Zhao) Bolt. , comb. & stat. nov.

Basionym:— I. lactea var. chrysantha Zhao (1980: 76) ≡ Eremiris lactea var. chrysantha (Y.T.Zhao) Crespo et al. (2015: 58) . Protologue citation:—“ Tibet, Naqu Exped., 10157, Neirung, 4700”. Type (neotype, designated here):— CHINA. [Xizang Province],

Zetang, Changzhu, 3550 m, on margin of planted Salix woods; sepals white-yellowish, with violetish lines; petals, stamens and pistils bluish, [fl.], 27 May 1986, T. Naita et al. 1479 ( PE01012909 [digital image!]) .

Notes:— Iris lactea var. chrysantha was described by Zhao (1980) based on plants collected during the Nagqu Expedition, in the northeast of Xizang Province, China. As indicated in the protologue, the type is deposited at the Institute of Botany, Yunnan, which corresponds to KUN. The type specimen could not be found at that herbarium (E.- D. Liu, pers. comm.). Consequently, as long as the original material is missing, a neotype may be selected according to the Art. 19.13 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018). I designated here a specimen at PE as the neotype of I. lactea var. chrysantha . In Xizang Province of China, I. lactea is an alien species. According to the herbarium specimens, examined by the author of the present study at BM, E, and K, in this province the plant is found in the territories of the Tibetan monasteries, in parks and gardens, it is also common along irrigation channels, in waste land, marshes, waterlogged sites, and cultivated areas at elevations of up to 4270 m. Iris lactea var. chrysantha was described because of the difference in flower colour. Moreover, plants with white, pale-blue, and pale-yellow perigone segments are present in mixed populations. Subsequently, I propose to consider this taxon as a further form of I. lactea .