Diversity of Crocus gargaricus s.l.: resolving longstanding debates and discovering a new species

Abstract

The Crocus gargaricus complex (Iridaceae) is known from a handful of scattered populations and three taxa from Turkey. The relationship between these taxa and their taxonomic state, however, has remained controversial for the past 200 years. Crocus gargaricus was described from Mount Ida in 1841 and later a geographically distant population was discovered at Göktepe, Muğla. The closely related C. thirkeanus, which was considered a synonym for about 40 years until 1984 when it was elevated to subspecies level as C. gargaricus subsp. herbertii, was known only from Uludağ. The latest molecular methods have now shown C. thirkeanus and C. gargaricus to be distinct species. However, one major limitation of previous studies was their heavy reliance on cultivated material. This study examines all known populations of the C. gargaricus complex, collected from their type locations, as well as two more recently discovered populations (Kütahya and İzmir). We combine morpho-anatomical measurements, statistical data analyses and molecular phylogeny to help resolve the relationships between these taxa across their known ranges. Our analysis revealed a clear division of the six populations into three taxa: C. gargaricus, C. thirkeanus and C. cigdemiae, a new species described herein.