New ten varieties and five subspecies of crocus baalbekensis K. Addam & M. Bou-Hamdan (Iridaceae) endemic to Lebanon added to the Lebanese flora

Abstract

Fifteen new world record Crocus baalbekensis var. decorus, fluctus, flavo-album, makniensis, youninensis, rasbaalbekensis, rihaensis, shaathensis, shlifensis, tnaiyetensis, subsp. ahlansis, anthopotamus, fakihansis, harbatansis, and rassomensis, joined the Lebanese flora and particularly the Iridaceae family. They were found in Baalbek-Hermel from North Baalbek to Hermel. All of them display C. Baalbekensis but vary in many taxonomic details. The validation for the existence of these new Varieties and Subspecies were verified by illustrated morphologic descriptions and observations were based on fresh materials. More than twenty years of fieldwork and three years of observation, phenology, and exploration of a host of locations, numerous quantities were found varying mostly from ten to more of the new species. Voucher specimens of the plants (Holotypes) were deposited in K. Addam’s Herbarium at Arts, Sciences and Technology University in Lebanon. The goal of this study was to display a comparative account on the anatomical and ecological characters of the 10 varieties and 5 subspecies of Crocus baalbekensis taxa as well as highlight the taxonomical importance of their corm, corm tunic, leaves, measurements, and comparisons of other structural anatomical differences and similarities.