''Prospero rhadamanthi'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

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 ...

endemic to

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 delicate autumn-flowering plant produces pale pink nodding flowers on slender stems after its grass-like leaves emerge. First collected in 1996 from Petres Gorge near Karoti in Crete at low elevations (5–80 metres), it was recognized as a distinct species in 2000.

Description

''Prospero rhadamanthi'' is a bulbous

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

that develops from a nearly spherical to underground

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 ...

measuring about 1.6–2 cm in length and 1.3–1.8 cm in width, enclosed within a brown papery . In autumn, before the flowers open, the plant produces between five and fourteen slender, grass-like leaves up to 20 cm long and 1.2–2 mm wide. Soon after, one or two leafless flowering stems (), each about 1 mm thick, rise to a height of 12–16 cm and carry between five and twenty-eight nodding flowers on stalks () 4–7 mm long. Each flower bears six pale pink segments measuring approximately 6 mm by 2 mm, with a distinct green on the underside. The consist of filaments, also pale pink and about 4 mm long, arising from a white base. The is pale violet, around 2 mm long and 1.5 mm in diameter, topped by a roughly 1.8 mm long. Following

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ...

, the plant forms a spherical capsule roughly 3 mm in diameter, which contains black seeds about 1.8–2 mm in length.

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 ...

studies have established a diploid number of 2''n'' = 14. The species was first collected by Franz Speta in May 1996 from Petres Gorge near Karoti, at elevations of 5–80 m.

Taxonomy

''Prospero rhadamanthi'' is placed in the family

, within the 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, ...

''—an assemblage of autumn-flowering bulbous plants formerly included in ''

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 ...

''. It was one of six new species described by Franz Speta in 2000 after detailed study of Cretan populations revealed consistent differences in bulb tunic, leaf emergence, floral structure and chromosome number. ''Prospero rhadamanthi'' is distinguished cytologically by a diploid

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 ...

count of 2''n''=14 and morphologically by its subglobose to ovoid bulbs with brown tunics and branched roots. 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 ...

was collected on 17 May 1996 from Petres Gorge near Karoti (5–80 m elevation) and is preserved at the Biologiezentrum Linz herbarium.

References

{{Taxonbar , from1=Q15502445 , from2=Q55955780 Scilloideae Endemic flora of Crete Plants described in 2000