Sciency Thoughts: Liliales

Showing posts with label Liliales. Show all posts

Sunday, 25 September 2022

Tulipa toktogulica: A new species of Tulip from the western Tien-Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Tulips, Tulipa spp., are one of the most instantly recognisable groups of flowers, with their popularity supporting a billion Euro cultivation industry, and the Plants being considered culturally important in many countries. Despite this, the taxonomy of the group is still somewhat unclear, with estimates of the number of known species varying between 70 and 100, depending on the classification system used. This is because Tulips are highly variable in traits such as flower shape, colour, and even genome size, even within species, making the delimitation of species difficult, and often debatable.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 22 September 2022, Brett Wilson of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, Georgy Lazkov of the Institute of Biology at the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kaiyrkul Shalpykov of the Institute of Chemistry and Phytotechnology at the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, and Samuel Brockington, also of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, describe a new species of Tulip from the Toktogul area of the JalalAbad Region, in the western Tien-Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Map of specimens collected for the phylogenetic analysis, excluding Tulipa iliensis and Tulipa altaica, which both lacked GPS information. Populations of the new species Tulipa toktogulica are labelled in order of discovery. Wilson et al. (2022).

The new species is named Tulipa toktogulica, in reference to the region where it was found. It is established as a new species on the basis of analysis of analysis of four regions of the genome, which established Tulipa toktogulica as the sister species to a group comprising Tulipa talassica and Tulipa lemmersii.

Tulipa toktogulica only produces three leaves, with the outermost reaching about 125 mm in length and 15 mm in width, and a solitary flower, about 35 mm in length, slightly fragrant and yellow in colour, apart from the red outer tepals.

(A) Side view of a flower. (B) Flower from above. (C) Side view of a closed flower. (D) Inner and outer tepals, stamen and ovary. (E) Prolonged tunic on bulb. (F) Seed pod. (G) Habitat at population one. (H) Habitat at population two and three. (I) Habitat at population four. Brett Wilson in Wilson et al. (2022).

Only four populations of Tulipa toktogulica are known, all from the area to the northeast of the Toktogul Reservoir, with one of these, s in pastureland of the Zagyra Mountains to the south-east of Torkent, in an area heavily grazed by Sheep and Cattle. Wild collecting of Tulips occurs in the area, but there is no commercial trade in the flowers. On the basis of the small number of known populations, and the threat presented to them by overgrazing and climate change, Brett et al. recommend that Tulipa toktogulica be classified as Endangered under the terms of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

Thursday, 26 December 2019

Gagea spelaea: A new species of Star-of-Bethlehem from the Western Tian Shan of Kyrgyzstan.

The genus Gagea comprises spring-flowering, herbaceous Lilies know by the common name of Stars-of-Bethlehem. The genus is a taxonomically difficult group, which requires examination of living plants for precise identification. A number of features, including the structure of bulbs, the character of vegetative reproduction, the presence, length, and cross section of the basal leaf, the shape of the inflorescence and capsules, the colour of tepals, and so on, are important for taxonomic identification in this genus. For correct identification, the characters of not only generative but also vegetative individuals are usually required. There are different estimates of the number of species in the genus, from about 100 to more than 320. In Kyrgyzstan 36 species of this genus have been described, with several undescribed taxa known in the mountains surrounding the Fergana Valley.

In a paper published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity on 3 February 2019, Igor Levichev of the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chang-gee Jang of the Department of Biology Education at Kongju University, Seung Hwan Oh of the Forest Biodiversity Division at the Korea National Arboretum, and Georgii Lazkov of the Institute for Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, describe a new species of Star-of-Bethlehem from the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve in the Chatkal Range of the Jalal-Abad Region of western Kyrgyzstan, part of the Western Tian Shan Mountain Range.

The new species is named Gagea spelaea, where 'spelaea' means a den or small cave, in reference to the environment where the plants were found, on niches on conglomerate cliffs, in the Bokchop River Gorge. This species is distinctive in having completely white flowers, unlike the yellow or yellowish white. The species also has relatively small vegetative bulbils underground at the base, with a slender above-ground plant reaching about 25 cm in height.

Gagea spelaea: (A) general habit; (B) open flower. Georgii Lazkov in Levichev et al. (2019).

Saturday, 7 July 2018

Chamaelirium viridiflorum: A new species of False Unicorn from Jiangxi Province, southeast China.

False Unicorns, Chamaelirium spp., are small herbaceous plants related to Lilies, which are found in wed meadows and deciduous woodlands in Southeast and East Asia, as well as in the eastern United States. They tend to form small rosettes of leaves, flat to the ground, surrounding a central flower spike which may be as much as 30 cm high, which gives them their common name. Most species are dioecious, which is to say the male and female flowers are found on separate plants.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 22 June 2018, Zhong-Cheng Liu of the College of Resource Environment and Tourism at Capital Normal University, and the State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources at Sun Yat-sen University, Lu Feng, also of the State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources at Sun Yatsen University, Lei Wnag, also of the College of Resource Environment and Tourism at Capital Normal University, and Wen-Bo Liao, again of the College of Resource Environment and Tourism at Capital Normal University, describe a new species of False Unicorn from Jiangxi Province in southeast China.

The new species is named Chamaelirium viridiflorum, meaning 'green-flowered'. It is a perennial herb with a rosette of flattened leaves 1-3 cm in length surrounding a central flower spike that can reach 15-22 cm. The flowers remain green throughout the flowering system, and are hermaphroditic (have both male and female features).

Chamaelirium viridiflorum. (A) & (B) Habit; (C) & (D) blade; (E) & (H) spike; (F) flower, lateral view; (G) pistil and stamen; (I) capsule. Liu et al. (2018).

The flowers were found growing in moist Moss-dominated habitats or along stream banks on rocks in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest at elevation of from 1200 m to 1550 m on the flanks of Mount Qiyunshan in southern Jiangxi. Only two patches of the plants were found, about two kilometres apart, in an area of woodland which is prone to disturbance by Human activities. Liu et al. do not consider they have enough information to give the plants a formal classification under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, but do consider the species to be rare, and that it's habitat should be protected.

Monday, 27 October 2014

A new species of Tulip from Anhui Province in eastern China.

Tulips of the genus Amana are found in eastern Asia. They are very similar to the Tulips of Western Asia and Europe, which are placed in the genus Tulipa, differing only in the presence of bracts on the upper part of the flowering stem, and not all botanists have recognised the two genera as distinct. However modern genetic studies appear to support the separation of the two groups, as closely related but distinct genera with different geographical ranges.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 27 August 2014, Bangxing Han of the Research Center of Research and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine at West Anhui University and the National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Science, Ke Zhang of the Department of Pharmacy at Anhui University of Chinese Medicine and Luqi Huang, also of the National Resource Center for Chinese MateriaMedica at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Science, describe a new species of Tulip from Ningguo County in Anhui Province, eastern China.

The new species is named Amana wanzhensis, meaning ‘from Wanzh’, though no explanation of this is given. It is a 15-30 cm high perennial herb growing from 1.5-2.5 cm bulbs, producing white flowers with brown stripes and green bases in February and March. It is widespread around the town of Xianxia, where it grows in moist Bamboo forests and meadows, at altitudes of 600-800 m above sea-level.

Amana wanzhensis.Yun-Xi Zhu in Han et al. (2014).

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

A new species of Peruvian Lily from the Talamanca Mountains of Panama.

In a paper published in the journal Phytotaxa on 30 May 2013, Daniel Cáceres González of the Herbarium of the Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí and the Herbarium Senckenbergianum describes a new species of Peruvian Lilly based upon material collected from the cloud forests of the Reserva Forestal Fortuna in the Talamanca Mountains in Chiriqui Province, Panama, during a botanical expedition in 2006.

The new species is placed in the genus Bomarea, vine-like Peruvian Lilies producing clusters of flowers, some of which are cultivated for food or cut flowers, and given the specific name rinconii, in honour of Rafael Rincón Gómez of the Escuela de Biología at the Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí, a distinguished Panamanian botanist. Bomarea rinconii is a twining, vine-like plant reaching 3 m in length. It has large, broad leaves and produces dark reddish-orange bell shaped flowers in April to May; the end of the local dry season.

Bomarea rinconii growing. Cáceres González (2013).

The plant is only known from a single site, in cloud forest at about 1800 m, and only a few individuals were observed, though the Reserva Forestal Fortuna is not well explored, so there is a possibility of larger populations existing. It is considered to be Critically Endangered under the guidelines of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

The approximate location of the Reserva Forestal Fortuna, the only place where Bomarea rinconii has been found growing in the wild. Google Maps.

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.