90 AROIDEANA, Vol. 22 Biarum mendax (: ) a New Species from Southwest Spain

Peter C. Boyce Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Richmond Surrey TW9 3AB U.K.

ABSTRACf in autumn and early winter and this, to­ Biarum mendax, a new species related gether with the often striking appearance to the B. kotschyi complex is described of the , had resulted in a from southwest Spain. growing popularity of Biarum species amongst enthusiasts. Mayo (983) INTRODUcnON and Mathew (987) have covered further aspects of this horticultural popularity. The Biarum consists of 24 spe­ Biarum mendaxP.C. Boyce sp. nov. ab cies of dwarf tuberous-stemmed herbs oc­ aliis specibus Biarii, spatha lamina magna curring in semi-arid and seasonally dry ar­ late lanceolata, spathii tubo profunde eas of southern , North Africa, and stamnoforme distinguitur. Typus: Spain. the Near and Middle East. The centre of Badajoz: Between Hobr6n and Solana des diversity is the Middle East, where 75% of los Barros, 15 October 1976, Cabezudo et the species occur. al. 2201/76 (holotypus SEV 25005; iSoty­ All Biarum species display a strongly pus G). seasonal growth regime, the begin­ ning growth in late summer or early au­ Tuber globose-discoid, 4 X 3.5 cm, mid­ tumn with the onset of winter rains, and brown. Leaves not seen. Inflorescence ap­ continuing into late spring when the plants pearing in late summer to autumn. Pedun­ become dormant at the start of summer cle 12 cm X 5 mm, clothed by few to many heat and drought. The majority of species 5-13 cm X 7-15 mm papery, pale yellow­ blossom in autumn and early winter and ish white cataphylls. Spathe 16-24 cm this, combined with the ephemeral nature long; spathe limb lanceolate, 18--20 cm X of the has resulted in nu­ 15-18 mm, apex long acuminate, exterior merous distinct undescribed species being green ± heavily blotched and stained pur­ overlooked, even in areas hitherto well ple-brown, interior deep purple-brown; botanized, until rather recently, e.g. B. spathe tube globose, strongly inflated, 4-5. davisii (Turrill 1938), B. auraniticum X c. 3 cm wide, margins fused for their Mouterde (Mouterde 1966), B. allepicum entire length, exterior pale green stained Thiebaut (Thiebaut 1948), B. galianii (Ta­ purple-brown especially towards the lavera 1976), B. davsiii subsp. marmari­ opening, interior off-white distally, deep sense P.C. Boyce (Boyce 1987), B. dit­ purple proximally. Spadix sub-equal to ex­ schianum Bogner & P.C. Boyce (Bogner & ceeding the spathe limb, 16-21 cm long; Boyce 1989), B. tenuifolium (1.) Schott spadix appendix slender fusiform-cylin­ subsp. idomenaeum P.e. Boyce & Athana­ dric, 14-16 cm X 6-8 mm, deep purple­ siou (Boyce & Athanasiou 1991). The spe­ brown. Staminate flowers in a zone 11-13 cies described here is another example of X 6-9 mm, deep purple. Interstice 23-25 this phenomenon, and is perhaps most re­ X 5-6 mm, deep purple. Pistil/odes situ­ markable in that B. mendax has the largest ated at the base of the interstice, few, fili­ inflorescence of any species in the genus. form, 5-14 mm long, deep purple. Pistil­ The majority of Biarum species blossom late flowers in a hemispherical cluster 4-5 PETER C. BOYCE, 1999 91

x 7-13 mm wide; ovary 2-3 mm long, This is a group, equivalent the generic cream; style 1 X 0.33 mm, purple, stigma synonym Ischarum Schott, to which a capitate, c. 0.5 mm in diam., purple. In­ number of horticulturally important spe­ Jructescence not seen. Chromosome count cies belong, including, aside from those not recorded. mentioned above, western Mediterranean B. carratracense (Haenseler) Font Quer, DISTRIBUTION & ECOWGY and eastern Mediterranean, Near Eastern B. pyrami (Schott) Engl., and B. kotschyi. To date B. mendax is known only from (Schott) B. Mathew. a few gatherings all originating from Ba­ dajoz in southwestern Spain, where it oc­ REFERENCES curs in fairly close proximity to B. dispar on rocky hill slopes of limestone-derived Bogner, ]. & P.e. Boyce, 1989. A remark­ terra rossa at altitudes of 50-75 m. able new Biarum (Araceae) from Tur­ key. Willdenowia 18(2): 409-417. ETYMOLOGY Boyce, P.C. 1987. A new subspecies of Biarum davisii Turrill from Turkey. The specific epithet is from the Latin Aroideana 10(4):14-15. mendax, deceitful, in allusion to the sim­ Boyce, P.e. & K. Athanasiou, 1991. A new ilarity in the dried state between the new subspecies of Biarum tenuifolium species, B. bovei, and B. dispar that has from Crete. Flora Med. 1: 5-13. resulted in it being hitherto overlooked. Mathew, B. 1987. The Smaller Bulbs. Lon­ don. NOTE Mayo, S.]. 1980. Biarurns for pleasure. Aroi­ In herbaria, B. mendax has been as­ deana 3(1): 32-35. signed to B. bovei Blume, or B. dispar Mouterde, P. 1966. Nouvelle Flore du Li­ (Schott) Talavera, on the basis of its overall ban et de la Syrie 1: 182-94. Beirut. similarity to them. However, B. mendax is Talavera, S. 1976. Revision de las especies readily separable by its greater size, ex­ Espanolas del genero Biarum Schott. ceeding that attained by B. pyrami. From Lagascalia 6(2): 275-296. all three species it can be distinguished by Thiebaut, ]. 1948. Araceae. Quelques the completely fused spathe tube. Biarum plantes de la flore Libano-Syrienne. mendax belongs to a group of species de­ Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. 95: 21. fined by spadices bearing sterile flowers Turrill, W.B. 1938. Plants new or notewor­ only between the male and female flower thy. Gardeners' Chronicle ser. 3 104: zones, and in the inflated lower spathe, 437.