Citation: Koçyi ˘ git, M.; Salmeri, C.; Özhatay, N.; Kaya, E.; Brullo, S. Allium sphaeronixum (Amaryllidaceae), A New Species from Turkey. Plants 2023, 12, 2074. https://doi.org/10.3390/ plants12112074 Academic Editor: Bartosz Jan Plachno Received: 25 April 2023 Revised: 15 May 2023 Accepted: 19 May 2023 Published: 23 May 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). plants Article Allium sphaeronixum (Amaryllidaceae), A New Species from Turkey Mine Koçyi ˘ git 1 , Cristina Salmeri 2,3, *, Neriman Özhatay 1,4 , Erdal Kaya 5 and Salvatore Brullo 6 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, Istanbul University, Beyazıt, TR-34452 Istanbul, Turkey; mkocyigit@istanbul.edu.tr (M.K.); neriman.ozhatay@emu.edu.tr (N.Ö.) 2 Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 38, 90123 Palermo, Italy 3 NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Piazza Marina 61 (c/o palazzo Steri), 90133 Palermo, Italy 4 Faculty of Pharmacy, Do˘ gu Akdeniz Üniversitesi, 98628 Famagusta, Cyprus 5 Atatürk Central Horticultural Research Institute, 77102 Yalova, Turkey; erdal_kaya@msn.com 6 Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Via A. Longo 19, 95125 Catania, Italy; salvo.brullo@gmail.com * Correspondence: cristinamaria.salmeri@unipa.it Abstract: In this paper, Allium sphaeronixum, a new species of the sect. Codonoprasum from Turkey, is described and illustrated. The new species is endemic to Central Anatolia, limited to the area of Nev¸ sehir, where it grows on sandy or rocky soil at an elevation of 1000–1300 m a.s.l. Its morphology, phenology, karyology, leaf anatomy, seed testa micromorphology, chorology, and conservation status are examined in detail. The taxonomic relationships with the closest allied species, A. staticiforme and A. myrianthum, are also highlighted and discussed. Keywords: Anatolia; endemic; sect. Codonoprasum; karyology; leaf anatomy; taxonomy; seed micromorphology 1. Introduction Allium L. is the largest genus of petaloid monocotyledons, comprising over 1100 accepted taxa [1]. It is represented by about 230 taxa in Turkey, grouped into 14 sections, with 86 endemics. In particular, the sect. Codonoprasum Rchb. is the second largest section in Turkey, with ca. 60 taxa, of which more than 30 are endemic [2–4]. Many taxonomical studies on this section have been carried out over the last years, resulting in the reassessment of some critical taxa and the description of many new endemic species from Turkey, e.g., [2–11]. During field surveys in the neighborhood of Nev¸ sehir (Central Anatolia, Turkey), some populations of a very peculiar Allium clearly belonging to the sect. Codonoprasum were collected and investigated. Morphologically, these plants showed some resemblance with A. myrianthum Boiss., a species widespread in Anatolia, as well as with A. staticiforme Sm., found in the Aegean islands. According to [12], these species belong to a very peculiar group, with A. staticiforme as the most representative taxon, which is distributed in the East Mediterranean territories. The A. staticiforme group is well differentiated from all other known taxa of sect. Codonoprasum by having the following distinct selection of morphological traits: dense spherical inflorescence, with rather short spathe valves; small-sized perigon (2–4 mm long); stamen filaments, with all or at least the inner ones exserted; and seeds less than 4 mm long. The aim of this study was to perform careful biosystematic analyses using living specimens cultivated both in the Botanical Garden of Catania (Italy) and in the Geophyte Garden in Yalova (Turkey) in order to clarify the taxonomic position of Nev¸ sehir plants and their relationships within the staticiforme group. The performed investigations revealed that the populations from Nev¸ sehir were closely related to A. myrianthum and A. staticiforme, Plants 2023, 12, 2074. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12112074 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/plants