Abstract
A Crocus population in the Northern Albanian Alps obviously belonging to C. ser. Verni was referred to C. heuffelianus, but closer field investigations revealed that it could not be identified with this or any other Verni species. The detailed description of a new species, Crocus bertiscensis, including morphology, leaf anatomy, cytology, and phylogenetic relationship is provided and illustrated. Phylogenetic analyses based on genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data obtained through genotyping-by-sequencing placed C. bertiscensis as clearly distinct from C. heuffelianus, supporting its rank as a species within C. ser. Verni. Morphologically, it differs from C. heuffelianus by showing paler and flatter perigone segments, short perigone tubes and leaf white stripe width of 1/7 compared to the leaf diameter. Finally, karyological and molecular analysis revealed that C. bertiscensis applies to the 2n = 12 cytotype of C. heuffelianus from Čakor Pass area reported by earlier studies.
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Acknowledgments
We like to thank I. Faustmann, C. Koch, B. Kraenzlin, and P. Oswald for help with plant cultivation and lab work, A. Himmelbach and S. König for performing Illumina sequencing, F. Blattner, H. Kerndorff, L. Peruzzi, K. Hegedüšová, and P. Vantara for providing Crocus material for molecular analyses.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.