Morphological and leaf anatomical variability of Crocus cf. heuffelianus Herb. (Iridaceae) populations from the different habitats of the Balkan Peninsula

Abstract

Crocus cf. heuffelianus Herb. belongs to the series Verni Mathew and presents one of the most complex and critical taxa withinthe whole genus Crocus L. Depending on different authors, C. cf. heuffelianus is sometimes split into different taxa (e.g., C. scepusiensis(Rehmer & Wol.) Borbás ex Kulcz., C. vittatus Schloss. & Vuk., nom. illeg.). In order to disentangle the complicated taxonomical statusof this species and to determine the degree of its morphoanatomical variability in the different environmental conditions, a comparativeinvestigation of plant morphology and leaf anatomy of seven populations from the Balkan Peninsula was carried out. Morphometricanalysis included meristic, quantitative, and qualitative parameters. To examine the leaf anatomy, fresh cross sections were made bymanual microtome and stained with safranin and alcian blue. Statistical analyses, such as principal component analysis and canonicaldiscriminant analysis revealed significant differences between populations, indicating the presence of distinct groups correlating withtheir geographical distribution. The largest contribution to the differentiation of analyzed populations is made by the characters thatare related to corms, perigone segments, leaves, and anthers, followed by the general outlook of cross sections, palisade and spongyparenchyma, abaxial epidermal cells, and vascular bundle features. These findings confirm that from the morphoanatomical point ofview Balkanian C. cf. heuffelianus presents an aggregate of species.