''Hyacinthoides cedretorum'' is a species of bluebell that grows in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Description

''Hyacinthoides cedretorum'' differs from other species of ''Hyacinthoides'' in the strongly revolute (curved backwards) form of the

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, with the stamens being attached to the tepals only at their bases; in other species, the stamens are fused to the tepals along much of their length, and the tepals form a bell-like shape. The anthers and pollen are typically violet-blue, but populations from the High Atlas mountains have creamy-yellow pollen.

Distribution and ecology

''Hyacinthoides cedretorum'' is found in mountainous areas of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, from the

Rif Mountains The Rif or Riff (, ), also called Rif Mountains, is a geographic region in northern Morocco. This mountainous and fertile area is bordered by Cape Spartel and Tangier to the west, by Berkane and the Moulouya River to the east, by the Mediterrane ...

to the mountains of

Jijel Province Jijel ( ar, ولاية جيجل) is a province (''wilaya'') in Algeria, on the eastern Mediterranean coast. The capital is Jijel (Phoenician name : ''Igilgili''). Taza National Park is located in this province. History The province was create ...

, including the

High Atlas High Atlas, also called the Grand Atlas ( ar, الأطلس الكبير, Al-Aṭlas al-Kabīr; french: Haut Atlas; shi, ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ ⵏ ⴷⵔⵏ ''Adrar n Dern''), is a mountain range in central Morocco, North Africa, the highest part of t ...

and Anti-Atlas mountains. It grows at altitudes of , generally under ''

Cedrus ''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, is a genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae (subfamily Abietoideae). They are native to the mountains of the western Himalayas and the Mediterranean region, occurring at altitudes of 1,500 ...

'' (cedar) or ''

Abies Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related t ...

'' (fir) trees. In the High Atlas, it grows on exposed cliff ledges.

Taxonomy and karyology

The first description of ''H. cedretorum'' as a separate taxon was made by

Auguste Pomel Nicolas Auguste Pomel (20 September 1821 – 2 August 1898) was a French geologist, paleontologist and botanist. He worked as a mines engineer in Algeria and became a specialist in north African vertebrate fossils. He was Senator of Algeria for Ora ...

in 1874, when he described "''Endymion cedretorum''" in his work ', based on plants growing on Djebel Endate in Algeria. The same species was later described by

Jules Aimé Battandier Jules Aimé Battandier (28 January 1848 – 18 September 1922) was a French botanist who was a native of Annonay, department of Ardèche. He was an authority on Algerian flora. In 1875, he became head of the pharmacy at Mustapha Pacha hospita ...

as "''Endymion patulus'' subsp. ''algeriensis''", and by Alfred Charles Chabert as "''Endymion kabylicus''". Both Pomel's name and Battandier's name have been treated as

infraspecific taxa In botany, an infraspecific name is the scientific name for any taxon below the rank of species, i.e. an infraspecific taxon or infraspecies. (A "taxon", plural "taxa", is a group of organisms to be given a particular name.) The scientific names ...

( subspecies or

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

) within the species ''

Hyacinthoides hispanica ''Hyacinthoides hispanica'' ( syn. ''Endymion hispanicus'' or ''Scilla hispanica''), the Spanish bluebell, is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial native to the Iberian Peninsula. It is one of around a dozen species in the genus ''Hyacinthoides'' ...

'', but it is now regarded as a separate species, and was placed in the genus ''Hyacinthoides'' in 2009. ''Hyacinthoides cedretorum'' is the only

tetraploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

species in the genus; it is unclear whether it originated by

autopolyploidy Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei ( eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contain ...

allopolyploidy Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei ( eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set conta ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5952340 cedretorum Flora of Morocco Flora of Algeria Plants described in 1874