Acis (plant)

''Acis '' is a genus of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants in the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae). The genus consists of nine species distributed in Europe and Northern Africa. ''Acis'' was previously included in ''Leucojum''; both genera are known as snowflakes.

Description

''Acis'' species are perennial bulbous plants. The flowers have six equally sized tepals, unlike the related genus ''Galanthus'' (snowdrops) in which the inner three tepals are shorter than the outer three. The tepals are unmarked, differing in this respect from ''Leucojum''. Most species have white tepals, although those of '' Acis rosea'' are pale pink. ''Acis'' species are relatively short, up to in '' Acis autumnalis'' and in ''Acis tingitana''. The leaves are narrow; very narrow (filiform) in '' Acis trichophylla''. The flower stalks (scapes) are solid.

Taxonomy

''Acis'' was first differentiated from the genus ''Leucojum'' by Richard Anthony Salisbury in '' The Paradisus Londinensis'' in 1807. In an earlier part of this work, he had used the name ''Leucojum autumnale'' for the plant illustrated in plate 21, but when discussing ''Leucojum pulchellum'', illustrated in plate 74, Salisbury noted the differences between the two species and considered them sufficient to put ''Leucojum autumnale'' into a new genus, ''Acis''. (However, he did not actually use the name ''Acis autumnalis'', which was published in 1829 by Robert Sweet.) Salisbury did not explain the origin of the name ''Acis'' beyond describing it as a "poetic title". It may refer to the myth of Acis and Galatea.

Most later botanists did not accept the distinction between ''Leucojum'' and ''Acis''. ''Acis'' was reinstated in 2004, after it was determined on morphological and molecular grounds that the broadly defined genus ''Leucojum'' was paraphyletic, with ''Acis'' and a more narrowly defined ''Leucojum'' being related as shown the following cladogram.

A possible relationship among the species of the genus ''Acis'' is shown in the following cladogram. (In the study, ''Acis ionica'' was treated as "''Acis valentina'' from Greece").

Species

, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepted nine species, most formerly placed in ''Leucojum''.

* '' Acis autumnalis'' (L.) Sweet – W. & W. Central Mediterranean
* '' Acis fabrei'' (Quézel & Girerd) Lledó – S.E. France (around Mont Ventoux and River Nesque)
* '' Acis longifolia'' J.Gay ex M.Roem. – Corsica
* '' Acis nicaeensis'' (Ardoino) Lledó, A.P.Davis & M.B.Crespo – S.E. France (from Nice eastwards)
* '' Acis ionica'' Bareka, Kamari & Phitos, syns. ''Leucojum ionicum'' Kit Tan, Mullaj, Sfikas & Strid, ''Acis orientalis'' Strid – SW. Albania to W. Greece
* '' Acis rosea'' (F.Martin bis) Sweet – Corsica, Sardinia
* ''Acis tingitana'' (Baker) Lledó, A.P.Davis & M.B.Crespo – Morocco
* '' Acis trichophylla'' G.Don – Central & S. Portugal, S. Central & S.W. Spain, Morocco
* '' Acis valentina'' (Pau) Lledó, A.P.Davis & M.B.Crespo – E. Spain (N. of Valencia)

File:Acis autumnalis005.jpg, '' Acis autumnalis''
File:Acis fabrei.jpg , '' Acis fabrei''
File:Acis longifolia in Corsica.jpg, '' Acis longifolia''
File:Acis_nicaeensis.jpg, '' Acis nicaeensis''
File:Acis ionica.jpg , '' Acis ionica''
File:Acis rosea in Corsica.jpg, '' Acis rosea''
File:Leucojum tingitanum 002 GotBot 2016.jpg , ''Acis tingitana''
File:Leucojum trichophyllum 1.JPG, '' Acis trichophylla''
File:Acis valentina flower.jpg , '' Acis valentina''

Cultivation

The species ''Acis autumnalis'' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2602694

Amaryllidaceae genera