Crocus pallidus (Iridaceae)-A Neglected Species for the Bulgarian Flora and Critical Taxon in the Balkans.

Tsvetanka Raycheva,Kiril Stoyanov,Samir Naimov,Elena Apostolova-Kuzova,Yulian Marinov

doi:10.3390/plants11050686

Tsvetanka Raycheva, Kiril Stoyanov + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11050686

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Abstract

For a long time, the Balkan endemic species Crocus pallidus has been unconfirmed and neglected for the flora of Bulgaria. It has remained an uncertain species from the Balkans, often listed as a synonym of C. weldenii. The morphological resemblance to the albinistic forms of C. chrysanthus has led to incorrect identification in the past, resulting in uncertainty regarding the distribution of this species in Bulgaria. In this regard, a detailed morphological and anatomical study of Bulgarian natural populations was carried out. A phylogenetic comparison in the ITS region of two Bulgarian populations of C. pallidus with other related species was conducted, revealing the distinction of C. pallidus populations from the closely related C. weldenii. The recently described new endemic species from Turkey, C. thracicus, shows very similar morphological and anatomical characteristics to C. pallidus and logically continues the distribution range in Eastern Thrace, along the Black Sea coast. We have a basis for suggesting that it should be treated as a synonym of C. pallidus.

Highlights

The genus Crocus L., with a center of diversity on the Balkan Peninsula and AsiaMinor [1], constitutes 235 species [2]
Crocus pallidus belongs to subgenus Crocus, section Nudiscapus, series Biflori [13]
The results of the taxonomical, morphological, anatomical, and molecular studies of four Bulgarian populations of C. pallidus confirmed the presence of this species in the flora of Bulgaria

Summary

Introduction

The genus Crocus L., with a center of diversity on the Balkan Peninsula and AsiaMinor [1], constitutes 235 species [2]. A taxonomic revision of the genus Crocus in Bulgarian flora has not been conducted in the last 50 years. After the last taxonomic treatment in Bulgaria, the genus included nine species [5]. Was reported as a new species, based on the revised specimens of C. chrysanthus Herb. Albidus Maw, collected from the region of North Macedonia [6] Later, this species persisted in the research of Kitanov et al [7] and was included in the list of species for the flora of Dobrudja [8]. For more than 35 years, this species has been neglected in the Bulgarian floristic literature and identification keys [9]. On the basis of the publication of Kitanov et al [7], the fourth edition of “Conspectus of the Bulgarian Vascular Flora” [11] included C. pallidus, with a distribution range along the Black Sea Coast (Northern) and Northeast Bulgaria. Crocus pallidus was neglected by Mathew [13] and noted as a heterotypic synonym of C. weldenii

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