Primula longipes Freyn & Sint. subsp. bayburtensis Sefali, Yapar & Demir, 2025

Sefalı, Abdurrahman, Yapar, Yakup, Demir, İbrahim, Yurtvermez, Bayram & Keser, Ali Murat, 2025, Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis Sefali, Yapar & Demir (Primulaceae): A new taxon from north-eastern Anatolia, Türkiye, PhytoKeys 256, pp. 141-150 : 141-150

Primula longipes Freyn & Sint. subsp. bayburtensis Sefali, Yapar & Demir subsp. nov.

Fig. 4

Diagnosis.

Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis differs from P. longipes subsp. longipes in its longer corolla tube and thurm flowers unwidening corolla throat. While Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis ’ s corolla tube ca. 14 mm and calyx / corolla tube length ratio is 0.5, P. longipes subsp. longipes ’ s corolla tube ca. 12 mm and calyx / corolla tube length ratio is 0.7 (Fig. 3 ).

Type.

Türkiye. Bayburt • Kırklar Mountain , southern valley, river side, stony and wet places, 2950 m elev., 15 June 2024, A. Sefali, Y. Yapar & İ. Demir 1052 (holotype: VANF!; isotypes: BIN!) .

Etymology.

Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis is named after the geographical province. This epithet is bayburtensis (in Turkish, Bayburt), refering to Bayburt Province, north-eastern Türkiye. The Turkish name for this taxon was chosen as “ Bayburt çulhası ” ( Menemen et al. 2016).

Description.

Sturdy perennial, 15–50 cm, basal bud scales long stocks formed by overlapping petioles. Roots thickish and fibrous. Stem shortly puberulent, farinose. Leaves rosette, petiole broadly winged, 6–8 × ca. 1 cm. Leaf lamina elliptic-lanceolate 6–22 × 1.5–3 cm and near petiole shortly puberulent, farinose, base gradually thinning. Leaf margin irregularly blunt denticulate and apex bluntly acute. Scapes 10–38 cm, elongated to 45 cm in fruit. Inflorescence, 4–30 - flowered (sometimes 2 - whorled) at umbels. Bracts linear lanceolate, generally filiform, 2–13 mm. Flowers heterostylous. Pedicel 8–12 mm, elongated to 2–5.5 cm in fruit. Calyx tubular, 5–7 mm, divided to 3 / 5. Calyx teeth, 3.5–4.5 mm, lobes linear to lanceolate. Corolla tube ca. 14 mm, lobes 6–10 mm, ± broadly oblong, entire, magenta. Pin flowers, stamens 4–5 mm above base of corolla tube, style longer than calyx. Thrum flowers, stamens equalling or above (1–1.5 mm) apex of calyx, style ca. 4 mm. Capsule cylindrical, 2–4.5 × as long as calyx. Seed elliptic to deltoid, yellowish, 2 × 1.5 mm (Fig. 4 ).

Phenology.

Flowering from June to July; fruiting in August.

Seed and pollen morphology.

(Fig. 5 ) Seed grains of P. longipes subsp. bayburtensis are eliptic to deltoid, yellowish, 2 × 1.5 mm, tuberculate, P. longipes subsp. longipes is elliptic, brownish, 2 × 1.5 mm, tuberculate. Pollen grains of P. longipes subsp. bayburtensis are prolate-spheroidal (P / E = 1.04 μm), polar axis (P) 19.17 μm (max. 20.98 μm, min. 17.73 μm), equatorial axis (E) 18.19 μm (max. 19.44 μm, min. 16.75 μm), radially symmetrical, isopolar, triparasyncolpate. Shape in polar view triangular. Exine 0.91 μm (max. 1.15 μm, min. 0.65 μm), intine 0.45 μm (max. 0.55 μm, min. 0.33 μm). Ornamentation of exine microreticulate. Additionally, pollen grains of P. longipes subsp. longipes are prolate-spheroidal (P / E = 1.07 μm). Polar axis 20.22 μm (max. 21.54 μm, min. 18.79 μm), equatorial axis 18.75 μm (max. 20.14 μm, min. 17.14 μm) radially symmetrical, isopolar, triparasyncolpate. Shape in polar view triangular. Exine 0.96 μm (max. 1.25 μm, min. 0.72 μm), intine 0.51 μm (max. 0.58 μm, min. 0.41 μm). Ornamentation of exine microreticulate.

Distribution and ecology.

(Fig. 2 ) The new taxon is a local endemic restricted to the south valley of Kırklar Mountain in Bayburt Province, North-eastern Türkiye. It is an Euxine element (Figs 1 , 2 ). The habitat of the Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis is stream banks and it grows in open alpine areas. The new subspecies grows in the near vicinity of Draba nemorosa L. , Cardamine raphanifolia Pourr. , Primula algida Adams , P. auriculata Lam. , P. elatior subsp. amoena (M. Bieb.) Greuter & Burdet , Pedicularis nordmanniana Bunge , Erica spiculifolia Salisb. , Scilla alinihatiana Aslan & Yıldırım , Silene lazica Boiss. (it is found near stony places), Erodium hendrikii Alpınar , Pinguicula balcanica Casper , Heracleum pastinacifolium K. Koch , Saxifraga exarata Vill. , Minuartia aizoides (Boiss.) Bornm. and Poa sp.

Taxonomic relationships.

Primula sect. Crystallophlomis members are generally distributed in highly mountainous places. The new taxon belongs to the Primula sect. Crystallophlomis and subsection Crystallophlomis ( Rankin 2012) . Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis is closely related to P. longipes subsp. longipes , P. nivalis Pall. subsp. turkestanica (Haage & Schmidt) Kovt. and P. crassifolia Lehm. as they all belong to the same section (section Crystallophlomis ). According to Lamond (1978), in Turkish Flora, P. longipes is one of the most beautiful of the Nivalid Primulas and a western vicarial of the Caucasian white-flowered P. bayernii , which is a synonym of P. crassifolia now, and also P. nivalis Pallas var. farinosa Schrenk , that is a synonym of P. nivalis subsp. turkestanica , related to P. longipes ( Lamond 1978) . The new taxon differs from P. longipes subsp. longipes by its corolla tube and calyx length ratio and thurm flower characters (Table 1 ). Differing from other taxa, P. nivalis . Subs. turkestanica growing in Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Mongolia and Xinjiang, its bracts shape, calyx divided ratio and corolla tube and calyx length of ratio etc. P. crassifolia , spread across North Caucasus and Transcaucasus, is similar to the new taxon, but its white-flowered habit is distinctive.

It is not surprising to find a new taxon from the province in northeast Türkiye as this area has a rich diversity of Androsace and Primula species ( Lamond 1978; Terzioğlu et. al. 2012; Sefalı 2021; Sefalı and Yapar 2022). P. longipes subsp. bayburtensis is found in Bayburt, Kırklar Mountain, north-eastern Türkiye. The new taxon’s spread is restricted to the southern valley of Kırklar Mountain. This valley is exposed to the Black Sea climate, the air currents from the south and fed by the Çoruh River. Probably, this climate differentiation challenged the new taxon for some adaptation. This environmental factor may be the reason for the new taxon’s changes in the flower futures (calix divided ratio, thurm flowers, corolla tube and calyx length of ratio).

Examined specimens.

Primula longipes subsp. longipes – Türkiye • Gümüşhane, in saxosis tracti Karagolldagh circa lacum Bojuk-goll, 2500 m elev., 31 vii 1894, Sintenis 7307 ( E 00024014!, L 2650049, G, K 000732926, BR / BR 0000005297337, WU 0069730) • Erzurum, Erzurum Province (bordering Rize Province), İspir District (bordering İkizdere District), Kaçkar Dağları (Kaçkar Mountains), about 1.7 km S of Ovit Dağı Geçidi (Ovit-Pass, 2640 m elev.). 40.611027 ° N, 40.78309 ° E, C. Gilli ( WU 11602); Giresun, Karagöl Dağı, 2600 m elev., 10 June 2021, A. Sefalı 690 ( VANF 165225) • Rize, Upper Kavrun Valley, Kaçkar Mountains, with Rhododendron caucasicum populations, grazing ground, 2600 m elev., 21 June 2024, A. Sefalı 107? ( BIN). P. nivalis subsp. turkestanica – Kyrgyzstan • Talas Oblast, North West of Otmök Pass, 3554 m elev., 12 July 2008, J. Osborne 518 ( K 000493578). Primula crassifolia – Georgia • (E 00024012). Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis – Türkiye • Bayburt; Kırklar Mountain, southern valley, river side, stony and wet places, 2950 m elev., 15 June 2024, A. Sefalı 1052 (holotype: VANF!; isotypes: BIN!).

Figures

Figure 1. Distribution map for Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis (red circle), P. longipes subsp. longipes (black circle), P. nivalis subsp. turkestanica (blue circle) and P. crassifolia (purple circle).

Figure 2. Kırklar Mountain: A southern valley of Kırklar Mountain B habitat of Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis (early period) C late period of new taxon D fruiting time of new taxon.

Figure 3. Morphologically related taxon in terms of flower, corolla tube and calyx ratio. A Pin flower of Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis B thrum flowers of P. longipes subsp. bayburtensis C thrum flowers of P. longipes subsp. longipes.

Figure 4. Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis: A Habitus B, C inflorescence D flower (calyx and corolla tube) E fruits and bracts F fruit.

Figure 5. SEM pollen (thurm flowers) and seed grain photographs: A – C Primula longipes subsp. bayburtensis B – D P. longipes subsp. longipes.