''Acis ionica'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family Amaryllidaceae, native from south-western Albania to western Greece. It was initially confused with what is now ''

Acis valentina ''Acis valentina'' is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to eastern Spain. Its white flowers appear in autumn. It can be grown as an ornamental bulb, but may need protection from hard frost. Description '' ...

'', a species found in Spain near

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

Description

''Acis ionica'' is a bulbous plant with narrow leaves, 12–22 cm long but only 2–3 mm wide. The leaves appear after flowering, which is in the autumn. The flowering stalk ( scape) is usually 8–20 cm tall, with an

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

composed of two to four flowers, occasionally only one or as many as six. The inflorescence is subtended by two spathes, usually extending to below the level of the highest flower. Each flower opens widely and is borne on a stem (

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

) about 16–28 mm long. The six

tepal A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...

s are white, generally 9–13 mm long. The outer three tepals have pointed tips. The pedicel lengthens after flowering. The black seeds are about 3 mm long.

Taxonomy

''Acis'' species were at one time placed in the genus ''Leucojum''. What is now considered to be ''Acis ionica'' was initially confused with ''Leucojum valentinum'' (''

''), a species found in Spain near

. Doubts over this identification began around 1990, and both morphological and molecular evidence began to suggest that it was a distinct species. It was first described as a separate species in 2004 as ''Leucojum ionicum''. Separately, and on the basis of a different type, ''Acis ionica'' was described in 2006 by Pepy Bareka, Georgia Kamari and Dimitrios Phitos. In 2019,

Arne Strid P. Arne K. Strid (born March 7, 1943 in Kristianstad, Sweden) is a Swedish botanist and expert on Greek flora. Biography He studied botany, chemistry and genetics in the University of Lund and graduated in 1970. His doctorate was about an exper ...

treated both taxa as the same species based on the very limited differences between their characters. In order to transfer the first published name, ''Leucojum ionicum'', to the genus ''Acis'', Strid considered that it was necessary to use a replacement name ('' nomen novum'') to avoid creating a

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones ( equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definiti ...

of the already published ''Acis ionica''. For this purpose, Strid published the name ''Acis orientalis''. A different view is adopted by the ''

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) is an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected pla ...

'', namely that the next published name, ''Acis ionica'', should be used, making Strid's replacement name superfluous and hence

illegitimate Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

. Although similar in appearance to ''A. valentina'', genetically it is as distinct as any other species of ''Acis''. Compared to ''A. valentina'', it has a thinner scape (flower stalk), broader inner

s, and its flowers open more widely.

Distribution and habitat

''Acis ionica'' is found in western Greece, on the islands of

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Z ...

, Kefalonia and

Lefkas Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas (Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Gr ...

, with populations on the nearby mainland of Greece and further north in coastal

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

(close to the city of

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foo ...

). It is found on calcareous soils, in open, stony or rocky ground and on hillsides, usually not far from the sea and at altitudes below 350 m.

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15517214, from2=Q21276517, from3=Q86428961 ionica Flora of Albania Flora of Greece Plants described in 2004