Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
15th Symposium on the Flora of Southeastern Serbia and Neighboring Regions, Nish, Sırbistan, 23 - 25 Mayıs 2025, ss.31, (Özet Bildiri)
The spring-blooming Crocus chrysanthus Herb. s.l. occurs across Türkiye and the Balkans. Due to limited data availability, recent taxonomic revisions have synonymized several previously recognized taxa with C. chrysanthus, although there is insufficient evidence to support their status. Resolving these infrageneric relationships requires further systematic studies and the identification of new diagnostic characteristics. Scape anatomy is systematically significant in various plant groups and previous studies have demonstrated its potential in distinguishing Crocus species. This study investigated the features of fruiting scapes of Crocus chrysanthus, collected when they mature in late spring from locations across Türkiye. Cross sections were taken using a rotary microtome and stained with safranin-alcian blue. Scape area and shape, number of vertices, vascular bundle number, crystal type, and density were found to be statistically significant characteristics. PCoA results divided populations into six groups corresponding to previously described intraspecific taxa. Among them, C. harpkeae Rukšāns scapes are notable for having the greatest area and rounded shape, while C. chrysanthus from Kütahya province is unique in having crystal sand and C. tuna-ekimii Yüzb. has the fewest vascular bundles. These findings indicate that scape anatomy contains characters that may be useful in resolving the species complex. Acknowledgement: We would like to thank Bilge Saadet Kaleli for her assistance in laboratory work. This study was supported by the T.C. İstanbul University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit (Project No: FLO-2023-40321).