Bellevalia malatyaensis Uzunh. & is described and illustrated as a new species from East Anatolia. The distribution area of this species is restricted to Erkenek (Malatya)–Gölbaşı (Adıyaman). It grows in open areas of Pinus brutia Ten. forest. It resembles Bellevalia gracilis Feinbrun, but differs in scapose habitus, leaves, and characters of the capsule. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2013) 37: 651-655 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article A new species of Bellevalia (Hyacinthaceae) from Turkey 1, 1 2 Mehmet Erkan UZUNHİSARCIKLI *, Hayri DUMAN , Serkan YILMAZ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Gazi University, 06500 Teknikokullar, Ankara, Turkey 2 Department of Midwifery, Faculty of Health Science, Ankara University, 06590 Altındağ, Ankara, Turkey 1 Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: Bellevalia malatyaensis Uzunh. & is described and illustrated as a new species from East Anatolia. The distribution area of this species is restricted to Erkenek (Malatya)–Gölbaşı (Adıyaman). It grows in open areas of Pinus brutia Ten. forest. It resembles Bellevalia gracilis Feinbrun, but differs in scapose habitus, leaves, and characters of the capsule. The morphological diagnostic characters and karyological features are discussed. Key words: Bellevalia, taxonomy, karyotype, Turkey 1. Introduction Bellevalia Lapeyr. comprises nearly 50 species in the world. The members of this genus mostly occur in the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Algeria eastwards to the Caucasus and Iran. Bellevalia is taxonomically assigned to Hyacinthaceae. It is closely related to Muscari Mill., Hyacinthus L., and Hyacinthella Schur (Persson & Wendelbo, 1979). Various methods such as karyological and embryological investigations are applied to solve the taxonomic problems within members of Monocotyledones (Mutlu & Karakuş, 2012; Vardar et al., 2012). The karyological features, consisting of x = 4 with long chromosomes (– mm), make it distinctive from others (von Bothmer & Wendelbo, 1981). According to a monograph, Bellevalia includes 44 species, 8 of which are recorded from Asiatic Turkey. Two of the Asiatic species [. Bellevalia trifoliata (Ten.) Kunth and Bellevalia ciliata (Cyr.) Nees] .
