Iris halophila Pall.

Raab-Straube, Eckhard von & Raus, Thomas, 2023, Euro + Med-Checklist Notulae, 16, Willdenowia 53 (1), pp. 57-77 : 61

Iris halophila Pall.

(≡ Iris spuria subsp. halophila (Pall.) C. E. Lundstr. ) – Fig. 4 .

+ Cm: Crimea: Sevastopol region, Balaclavskyi district, 2.25 km SE of Balaclava, Blizhnee – Golden Beach locality, 44°29'10''N, 33°37'25''E, 120 m, gravelly slope near path in juniper woodland, 30 May 2012, Seregin (MW 0606074 as Iris spuria subsp. musulmanica (Fomin) Takht. ); ibid., 2 Aug 2021, Svirin (obs.); ibid., Ayazma terrain, 44°29'09.54''N, 33°37'27.90''E, 145 m, clay slope, badlands, 24 May 2022, Svirin (YALT); ibid., terrace in pineplantations, 24 May2022, Yevseyenkov (photo:https:// www.plantarium.ru/page/image/id/759348.html).

– The native range of this species is SE Europe to C Asia, predominantly in the steppe biome. The localities closest to the Crimean populations are in the NW Black Sea region of Romania and adjacent Ukraine where this species is common. Typical habitats of Iris halophila are steppe slopes, wet and alkaline meadows and solonchaks ( Fomin & Bordzilovskyi 1950; Prodan & Nyárády 1966). In Balaclava, it grows on a coastal slope on clay alkaline soils, which are moistened by temporary streams and groundwater in natural badland habitats and on artificial terraces with Pinus brutia Ten. plantations, associated with Elymus nodosus (Griseb.) Melderis , Galium xeroticum (Klokov) Pobed. , Phragmites australis (Cav.) Steud. , Teucrium chamaedrys L. and other species. The population covers an area of about 2000 m 2 and includes several hundred individuals, but only a few of them bloom. Probably, the first herbarium specimen of I. spuria L. affinity from this locality was collected in 2012 by A. Seregin and identified as I. spuria subsp. musulmanica (Fomin) Takht. ( Seregin 2023a) , but this record was not included in the additions to the flora of the Sevastopol area ( Seregin & al. 2015). Iris spuria subsp. musulmanica was mentioned before for Crimea as an alien species naturalized near Yalta ( Didukh & Yena 1999; Yena 2012). It differs from I. halophila by its bluish (not yellow) flowers. The plants from Balaclava are characterized by the following morphological features: plants 15–40 cm tall; leaves not or slightly exceeding the flowering stem, 7–15 mm wide; flowers 2 or 3 per peduncle, 6–8 cm in diam.; tepals sulphur-yellow or pale yellow with a bright yellow spot in the centre of the limb of the fall.

Figures

Fig. 4. Iris halophila – A: flowering plant; B: fruits. – A: Crimea, Sevastopol region, Balaclava vicinity, 24 May 2022; B: ibid., 23 Aug 2021; both photographs by S. Svirin.