Gladiolus adanus Eker & Sagiroglu, sp. nov.

Gladiolus adanus Eker & Sağıroğlu sp. nov. (Figs. 1–3).

Gladiolus adanus is partly similar to G. alanyensis and G. kotschyanus by its leaf and flower characteristics, but is easily distinguished from both species by its seed width (3–4 mm vs. 1.2–2.85 mm), seed shape (tetragonal to hexagonal globose-obovoid vs. oblong-obovoid or ovoid-tetraquetrous), seed ornamentation (rugose-reticulate vs. colliculate or reticulate-foveate or reticulate-celluculate) and whether the seed has wings (winged vs. unwinged) and filament length (10–13 mm vs. 14–17 mm). It also differs from G. alanyensis by its lilac-purple perigone (not magenta pink), posture of tubes (distinctly curved vs. straight), number of flowers in the spike (4–6-flowered vs. 1–4-flowered), leaf number and wideness (2–3 and 4–7 mm vs. 3 and 1–2 mm), length of upper median segment (31–34 mm vs. 22–24 mm), and posterior length of tube (11–12 mm vs. 12–14 mm). It also differs from G. kotschyanus by its leaves near the upper cataphyll (vs. away from the upper cataphyll), lax spike (vs. dense), size of upper median segment (31–34 × 10–12 mm vs. 25–28 × 14–18 mm), and posterior length of tube (11–12 mm vs. 8–11 mm).

Type: — TÜRKİYE. Adana: Tufanbeyli, near Güzelim Village, around Küçük Gezbeli Pass, creek banks in pine forest clearings, 1436 m a.s.l., 09 May 2018, İ. Eker 12588 (holotype AIBU!; isotypes AIBU!, SAKU!).

Paratypes: — TÜRKİYE. Adana: Tufanbeyli, near Güzelim Village, around Küçük Gezbeli Pass, creek banks in pine forest clearings, 1436 m a.s.l., 29 June 2016, İ. Eker 10378 (in fruit) (AIBU!); ibid., 1428 m a.s.l., 11 July 2023, İ. Eker 13441 (in fruit) (AIBU!).

Description: —Perennial, glabrous herb. Corm ovoid, 1–2 × 0.7–1.3 cm, 1–2 piece contractile roots sometimes continue during the mature stage; tunics 3-layered, membranous with parellel fibres. Stem 30–50 cm long, erect, 1–3 mm diameter at base. Cataphylls 2, papery, lilac-yellow, acute. Leaves 2–3, linear-lanceolate, 9–15 cm × 4–7 mm, acute, venation irregularly spaced, 6–8-nerved, the lower leaf close to the upper cataphyll, the upper leaf reaches the spike. Bracts lanceolate, lilac, membranous at margin and 1 mm wide; outer bracts 2–3 cm × 3–4 mm, inner ones 1.3–1.8 cm × 1–2 mm, papery. Inflorescence 4–6-flowered, lax, spike secund, straight, 3–7 cm long. Perigone upper segments lilac-purple, lower lateral segments with fusiform white blotch; tubes distinctly curved, posterior 11–12 mm long, anterior 15–16 mm long; upper segments 4–6 mm long clawed, upper median segment broadly spatulate, 31–34 × 10–12 mm, obtuse; upper lateral segments spatulate 27–30 × 9–11 mm, acute. Lower segments 6–7 mm long clawed; lower median segment spatulate, 29–31 × 9–11 mm, acute; lower lateral segments spatulate 27–29 × 7–9 mm, obtuse. Filaments 10–13 mm long, adnate to perigone tube, filiform, widened at the base; anthers shorter than filaments, 8–9 mm long, yellow, basifixed included. Ovary 3-locular; style lilac, 31–33 mm long; stigma 3 equal branches widened at the tips, lilac, branches 2–3 mm long. Fruit a 3-loculicidal capsule, obovoid, 10–13 × 6–8 mm, 10–12-seeded per loculus but 3–4 of them are maturing; seeds tetragonal to hexagonal globose-obovoid, 3–4.3 × 3–4 mm, yellowishbrown, winged, wing 0.7–1.2 mm wide.

Phenology: —Members of G. adanus spend the autumn and winter in dormancy. When favourable ecological conditions occur, they grow their leaves, scapes and first buds in April, respectively. Flowering and the anthers becoming visible begins in the first week of May. It goes into fruiting after last week of May, and the fruit fully ripens in end of June to July. The opening of the ripened fruit and the dispersal of the seeds continue until the end of July. At the end of the vegetation cycle, the entire plant ages and appears light brown. While the above-ground parts decay, the cormels produced by the mother corm underground maintain their vitality and development.

Etymology: —The specific epithet of the new species is derived from the mythological name of the province of Adana, “ Adanus ”, where the new species was first discovered.

The Turkish name for the new species: — Gladiolus is called “ Kılıçotu ” in Turkish. The authors propose “ Adana Kılıçotu ” as a vernacular name for G. adanus according to the guidelines of Menemen et al. (2016).

Distribution and habitat: — Gladiolus adanus is known only from a very limited area around Güzelim Village in Tufanbeyli district of Adana Province (Fig. 4). This area and its surroundings are very interesting in terms of diversity, being very rich in local endemics such as Ornithogalum adanense Demirci & Kaya (2014: 546), Muscari fatmacereniae Eker (2019:102) and Muscari macbeathianum Kit Tan (1988: 26). Gladiolus adanus grows on moist fine sand on creek banks in pine forest clearings at an altitude of 1410–1440 m.

Species conservation assessment: — Gladiolus adanus was found at a single locality. Less than 200 mature individuals were observed at the type locality. Area of occupancy (AOO) of the species covers less than 1 km 2. This area is close to village settlements. The region is under pressure from grazing and agricultural activities. In addition, in the last eight years, with the effect of global climate change, water and moisture loss was observed in the region due to drought. As a result, it is predicted that the quality of the habitat for G. adanus will deteriorate in the future due to human-oriented activities and the pressure of global warming. Therefore, based on the IUCN criteria, we assess the species as “Critically Endangered (CR)” (Criterion B2ab[ii iii, v]) due to its distribution restricted to a single locality and the predicted decline in AOO, habitat quality and number of mature individuals (IUCN 2022).

Taxonomic relationships: —At first glance, G. adanus resembles G. kotschyanus in habitus and G. alanyensis in its small sized form. It differs from both species by its short filaments, winged seeds, seed ornamentation, shape and size. It also differs from G. alanyensis by its perigon color, distinctly curved perigone tube, number of flowers in the spike, leaf number and wideness, length of upper median segment and posterior length of tube. it differs from G. kotschyanus by the leaves being close to the upper cataphyll, lax spike, size of upper median segment and posterior length of tube (Table 1).

Comparative seed micromorphology with close Gladiolus species:— Gladiolus adanus, is similar to G. kotschyanus and G. alanyensis in terms of cell arrangement, well developed cuticle type, more or less polygonal testa epidermal cells. However, it differs from both similar species in terms of seed shape, size, ornamentation and winged structure. Gladiolus adanus seeds are larger and different in shape than those of G. alanyensis and relatively those of G. kotschyanus. Although the reticulate structure predominates in the testa ornamentation, as shown in all these three Gladiolus species, it is rugose-reticulate in G. adanus, reticulate-colliculate in G. alanyensis, and colliculate and reticulate-foveate in G. kotchyanus (Table 2, Fig. 3).

Previous studies have shown that seed micromorphological characters, in combination with other morphological characters are a good tool for distinguishing plant taxa and determining taxonomic rank (Corner 1976, Barthlott 1981, Bojňansky & Fargašová 2007). Seed micromorphology and seed anatomical characters were also shown to be decisive in distinguishing species Gladiolus, both in previous studies (Erol et al. 2006, Eker & Sağıroğlu 2021, Sağıroğlu & Eker 2021, Tekşen et al. 2021, Sağıroğlu et al. 2022) and here.