Systematics of the Oncocyclus Irises in the Southern Levant

Many transition forms between species or populations are known from the field. The project’s purpose is to examine the speciation trends in the Royal Irises, and connect eco-geographic conditions with morphologic and genetic variance. The research conducted between 1998 and 2000 revealed that the morphological traits changed along the eco-geographical North-South gradient: flower size, stem height and leaf characters change along the aridity gradient. The results suggesting that the Royal Irises should be merged into four morpho-species: Iris lortetii, Iris bismarckiana (include I. hermona), Iris mariae and Iris haynei (include I. atrofusca, I. atropurpurea, I. bostrensis, I. nigricans and I. petrana).

For further details see

Sapir, Y., A. Shmida, O. Fragman and H. P. Comes. 2002. Morphological variation of the Oncocyclus Irises in the southern Levant. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 139: 369-382

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