''Prospero minimum'' is an autumnal flowering plant of the family

Asparagaceae Asparagaceae (), known as the asparagus family, is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots. The family name is based on the edible garden asparagus, '' Asparagus officinalis''. This family includes both ...

, subfamily

Scilloideae Scilloideae (named after the genus ''Scilla'', "squill") is a subfamily of bulbous plants within the family ''Asparagaceae''. Scilloideae is sometimes treated as a separate family Hyacinthaceae, named after the genus ''Hyacinth (plant), Hyacinthus ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, Greece. It is a

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

species in the ''

Prospero autumnale ''Prospero autumnale'', the autumn squill, an autumnal flowering plant of the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, is found in the Mediterranean region from Portugal and Morocco east to Turkey and the Caucasus, plus Great Britain. Despite ...

cryptic species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. This tiny autumn-flowering plant is among the smallest members of the squill family, with thread-like leaves less than 1 mm wide and delicate pink star-shaped flowers. It grows on

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

rubble near Imbros Gorge and was recognized as a distinct species in 2000 when scientists documented its uniquely diminutive size compared to related plants.

Description

The subspherical

bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

, scarcely 1.8 cm long, is wrapped in a brown, papery and gives rise to just a few roots. In late summer the plant produces extremely fine, grass-like leaves only 0.5–1 mm across and up to 10 cm long; because these leaves appear before the flowers the growth

habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...

is called . One or two wiry, leafless stems ( 4–10 cm tall then bear a loose spike () of three to ten star-shaped flowers. Each blossom measures about 5 mm across, with six petal-like segments () flushed pale pink and marked by a darker ; the violet broaden towards their white bases, surrounding a tiny purple ovary topped by a slender . After

fertilisation Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a zygote and initiate its development into a new individual organism or of ...

the stalks elongate and almost spherical seed capsules about 2.5–3 mm in diameter mature, releasing glossy brown-black seeds roughly 1.5 mm long.

Taxonomy

Austrian botanist Franz Speta formally described ''Prospero minimum'' in 2000 while revising the autumn-flowering squills of Crete. Earlier

floras Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Sometimes b ...

had subsumed these modest bulbs under a broad concept of ''

Scilla autumnalis ''Prospero autumnale'', the autumn squill, an autumnal flowering plant of the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae, is found in the Mediterranean region from Portugal and Morocco east to Turkey and the Caucasus, plus Great Britain. Despite ...

'', but Speta's comparative work—combining detailed

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

with

chromosome A chromosome is a package of DNA containing part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes, the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with nucleosome-forming packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells, the most import ...

counts—showed that several Cretan lineages form a coherent group that differs from ''

Scilla ''Scilla'' () is a genus of about 30 to 80 species of bulb-forming perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. Sometimes called the squills in English, they are native to woodlands, subalpine ...

'' sensu stricto. He therefore reinstated the long-neglected genus ''

Prospero Prospero ( ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's ''The Tempest''. Character Twelve years before the play begins, Prospero is usurped from his position as the rightful Duke of Milan by his brother Antonio, ...

'' and assigned six new species to it, of which ''P. minimum'' is the tiniest. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

derives from plants collected on

rubble near Imbros Gorge in south-western Crete, later cultivated in the Linz botanical collection, and its publication fixed the name ''Prospero minimum''. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''minimum'' alludes to the plant's diminutive stature—both its bulbs barely 1.8 cm long and its thread-like leaves less than 1 mm wide.

References

{{Taxonbar , from1=Q15502406 , from2=Q12182296 Scilloideae Endemic flora of Crete Plants described in 2000