Iris orjenii
Encyclopedia
Iris orjenii, the Orjen Iris, is a rare species of iris
found in Montenegro
and Hercegovina on the karst
landscape of Mt. Orjen
. It grows in the wild on grassy slopes at 1500 to 1700 meters, in sunny or semi-shaded locations within Bosnian Pine
communities. It is a member of the subgenus
iris, meaning that it is a bearded iris, and grows from a rhizome
.
It grows to a stem height of 30 to 50 centimeters. The leaves are bluish-green in color, and sword-shaped, 40 to 50 centimeters in length, and 2.5 to 3 centimeters in width.
The inflorescence
, produced in June, is fan-shaped and contains two or three white flowers.
like Bay of Kotor
. Heavy glaciated during the Pleistocene
period, glaciokarst
ic morphology dominates the higher portions of the mountain. Outstanding for intense precipitation
averaging 5000 mm/a (maximums >8000 mm/a), Mt. Orjen has by far the highest amount of rainfall in the Mediterranean and also one of the highest in Europe.
The taxon
shows a significant syntaxonomic affinity to open altimediterranean pasture
s within the Seslerion robustae alliance and open Mediterranean mountainous coniferous Pine
woodland - Pinion heldreichii alliances. The examined partial population
s grow under similar conditions on south facing slopes with abundant light.
The new species is restricted to humid chromic luvic cambisols and rendzic leptosols at localities above tree line in the oro- to altimediterranean lifezone between 1550 and 1750 m in the eastern Orjen.
zone of Mt. Orjen, Mediterranean climate
penetrates far inland. Profound mixtures of species from more than one climatic zone and in addition endemic and stenoendemic species
and special vegetation types with marked transitional vegetation units restricted exclusively to ecotons of humid (Csa) subtropical and hyper humid oceanic- (Cfs) climates are especially notable. Mediterranean cyclone
s and sirocco
storms are accountable for the heavy precipitation (up to 5000 mm/m2 at Crkvice, 940 m AMSL) that feeds the luxuriant and hyper-humid type of eastern Mediterranean vegetation comparable to colchidia-hyrcanian formations of the Caucasus
and Asia Minor
in the exceptionally damp and mild climate of the Montenegrin coast.
While humidity generally increases with altitude
, the vegetational structure of transect
s on Orjen varies through a combination of ranges of warmth and humidity where altitude, exposition, geomorphology
and pedology
correlate with specific alliance
s in the vegetation.
At coast level at Risan
with up to 3500 mm/m² precipitation per year the perhumid eumediterranean climate variant is established (Cs’’a climate; s’’= double winter rain season. According to the Köppen climate classification). Rain augments in the supra- to oromediterranean life zone (Crkvice
at 940 m) to 4926 mm/m²a (Cfsb climate; fs= without summer dryness), while the higher summits of the alti- and kryomediterranean life zone receive more than 6000 mm/m² per year and are constituents of mediterranean snowclimates (Dfsc) heavily influenced by bora
and sirocco storm winds.
Frequent cold mountain wave
wind situations during winter associated with cold high pressure systems over the mainland prevail in the innermost Bay at Risan and vegetational zones are compressed by the impact of bora. In addition the thermophylic communities of maquies and phrygana formations show the noticeable absence of some mediterranean species.
According to preliminary observations two different subunits should be separated and both communities should be regarded as sub-associations within a united community. Apart from the subunit within Peucedano-Pinetum heldreichii M. Jank with notable altimediterranean Dinaric dry mountainous grassland and xerophytic tall herb taxa (Peucedanum longifolium, Senecio thapsoides ssp. visianianus and Juniperus nana) on not - too - shallow rendzic leptosols at the bases of higher cliffs, there is in depressions with deep chromic luvic cambisols a mesophytic tall herb community with numerous humidity indicators within Seslerion robustae where Iris orjenii forms a community of its own with respect to its spectrum of diagnostic species as well as its physiognomic structure. Associated species are Heracleum sphodyllum, Lilium martagon var. cattaniae and Asphodelus albus. The appearance of Paeonia daurica Andrews (syn. Paeonia mascula subsp. triternata Boiss.), as observed at the latter community and nearby scattered individuals of Betula pendula and Acer heldreichii, underline that specially this part of Mt. Orjen belongs to the transitional oromediterranean type where the orophytic vegetation contains mixtures of submediterranean and temperate chorological elements.
Two other species occur on Mt. Orjen, Iris pseudopallida Trinajstic and I. reichenbachii var. bosniaca, both with equal chromosome numbers (2n=24). I. orjenii appears somewhat intermediate, in height of stem, colour of flowers and consistence of spathes. The shape of the tepals is different from I. pseudopallida but similar to those of I. reichenbachii var. bosniaca. The spathe dries out before or during flowering time, getting white to slightly brownish, sometimes with a violet teint, a diagnostic feature for the whole Pallida series, whereas in I. reichenbachii the spathe is sharpely keeled and stays completely green until flowering period is over. Shape of seed, a character regarded to be of high diagnostic value reveals similarity to those of I. cengealti and I. illyrica, both closely related to I. pseudopallida, but striking dissimilarities to the latter, which has compressed seeds. Seeds of I. reichenbachii are described to be similar to those of I. orjenii. Shape and undulation of falls and standards are much more similar to I. reichenbachii, whereas no white flowered individuals from wild population of this species have been reported.
White flowering plants of I. pallida from the region of Dubrovnik and white flowering individuals have been spotted occasionally in bigger populations in southern Dalmatia.
A hybrid origin of I. orjenii might be suspected, the more as it is found exactly at the height where areals of I. pseudopallida and I. reichenbachii potentially overlap.
Thus the closest I. orjenii population was seen only 2 km from a remote I. pseudopallida locality and I. reichenbachii is found in the immediate vicinity of all known stands of I. orjenii.
The morphological homogeneity of I. orjenii and the ecological specialisation also favour exclusion of a spontaneous hybrid population hypothesis. I. orjenii is fully fertile and generative propagation in situ has been examined.
The new species is restricted to humid chromic luvic cambisols in the high altimediterranean level. The eu- to supramediterranean I. pseudopallida in contrast is widespread on bare limestones or initial rendzic leptosols (Rendzina) in a variety of mediterranean and submediterranean alliances of coastal karst plains, on megacliffs in the Ephedero-Cyxthoselinetum palmoidis alliance and on montane limestone escarpments in the Campanula-Moltkeetum petaeae H-Iċ alliance.
I. reichenbachii var. bosniaca and I. orjenii have strong affinities in their phytosociologial character as they are constituents of Festuco-Seslerietea Barbéro & Bonin 1969 with I. reichenbachii var. bosniaca common in Seslerietalia juncifoliae H-at and Crepedetalia dinaricae Lksic. associations on shallow rendzic leptosols of Dinaric high altitudinal limestone pastures and Pinion heldreichii alliances. But ecological differences exist as I. orjenii is never found on extremely shallow soils.
Concluding from both morphology and ecology, a hybrid origin followed by speciation seems the best explanation for the restricted occurrence of I. orjenii.
Iris (plant)
Iris is a genus of 260-300species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species...
found in Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
and Hercegovina on the karst
KARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
landscape of Mt. Orjen
Orjen
Orjen is a Dinaric Mediterranean limestone mountain range in Montenegro-Bosnia and Herzegovina. At 1894 m , Zubački kabao is the highest peak in the subadriatic Dinarides. The massif of Orjen lies to the Northwest of Risan in Bay of Kotor...
. It grows in the wild on grassy slopes at 1500 to 1700 meters, in sunny or semi-shaded locations within Bosnian Pine
Bosnian Pine
The Bosnian Pine is a species of pine native to Bosnia but is also found in the mountains of southeastern Europe, in southwestern Bulgaria, Bosnia, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, northern Greece , and locally in southern Italy ,...
communities. It is a member of the subgenus
Subgenus
In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.In zoology, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the Tiger Cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, which...
iris, meaning that it is a bearded iris, and grows from a rhizome
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
.
It grows to a stem height of 30 to 50 centimeters. The leaves are bluish-green in color, and sword-shaped, 40 to 50 centimeters in length, and 2.5 to 3 centimeters in width.
The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
, produced in June, is fan-shaped and contains two or three white flowers.
Habitat
Iris orjenii is exclusiveley confined to an extensive folded limestone mountain located at the most indented portion of the Adriatic coast, the fjordFjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
like Bay of Kotor
Bay of Kotor
The Bay of Kotor in south-western Montenegro is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea. The bay, sometimes called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a submerged river canyon of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen...
. Heavy glaciated during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
period, glaciokarst
Glaciokarst
Glaciokarst is a karst landscape that was glaciated during the cold periods of the Pleistocene and displays major landforms of glacial influence. For this reason karstification can be pre- and/or post- Pleistocene, this is not easy to classifiy...
ic morphology dominates the higher portions of the mountain. Outstanding for intense precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
averaging 5000 mm/a (maximums >8000 mm/a), Mt. Orjen has by far the highest amount of rainfall in the Mediterranean and also one of the highest in Europe.
The taxon
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
shows a significant syntaxonomic affinity to open altimediterranean pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
s within the Seslerion robustae alliance and open Mediterranean mountainous coniferous Pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
woodland - Pinion heldreichii alliances. The examined partial population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
s grow under similar conditions on south facing slopes with abundant light.
The new species is restricted to humid chromic luvic cambisols and rendzic leptosols at localities above tree line in the oro- to altimediterranean lifezone between 1550 and 1750 m in the eastern Orjen.
Climate
While the great inlet of the Bay of Kotor winds deep into the High-KarstKARST
Kilometer-square Area Radio Synthesis Telescope is a Chinese telescope project to which FAST is a forerunner. KARST is a set of large spherical reflectors on karst landforms, which are bowlshaped limestone sinkholes named after the Kras region in Slovenia and Northern Italy. It will consist of...
zone of Mt. Orjen, Mediterranean climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
penetrates far inland. Profound mixtures of species from more than one climatic zone and in addition endemic and stenoendemic species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
and special vegetation types with marked transitional vegetation units restricted exclusively to ecotons of humid (Csa) subtropical and hyper humid oceanic- (Cfs) climates are especially notable. Mediterranean cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
s and sirocco
Sirocco
Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and reaches hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe. It is known in North Africa by the Arabic word qibli or ghibli Sirocco, scirocco, , jugo or, rarely, siroc is a Mediterranean wind...
storms are accountable for the heavy precipitation (up to 5000 mm/m2 at Crkvice, 940 m AMSL) that feeds the luxuriant and hyper-humid type of eastern Mediterranean vegetation comparable to colchidia-hyrcanian formations of the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
and Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
in the exceptionally damp and mild climate of the Montenegrin coast.
While humidity generally increases with altitude
Altitude
Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context...
, the vegetational structure of transect
Transect
A transect is a path along which one records and counts occurrences of the phenomena of study .It requires an observer to move along a fixed path and to count occurrences along the path and, at the same time, obtain the distance of the object from the path...
s on Orjen varies through a combination of ranges of warmth and humidity where altitude, exposition, geomorphology
Geomorphology
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...
and pedology
Pedology (soil study)
Pedology is the study of soils in their natural environment. It is one of two main branches of soil science, the other being edaphology...
correlate with specific alliance
Alliance
An alliance is an agreement or friendship between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests.See also military alliance and business alliance.-International relations:...
s in the vegetation.
At coast level at Risan
Risan
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro...
with up to 3500 mm/m² precipitation per year the perhumid eumediterranean climate variant is established (Cs’’a climate; s’’= double winter rain season. According to the Köppen climate classification). Rain augments in the supra- to oromediterranean life zone (Crkvice
Crkvice
Crkvice is a village on Orjen mountain in Montenegro and is the wettest place in Europe. The average annual precipitation for the period 1931-1960 was 4927 mm and for 1961-1990 4631 mm...
at 940 m) to 4926 mm/m²a (Cfsb climate; fs= without summer dryness), while the higher summits of the alti- and kryomediterranean life zone receive more than 6000 mm/m² per year and are constituents of mediterranean snowclimates (Dfsc) heavily influenced by bora
Bora (wind)
Bora or Bura is a northern to north-eastern katabatic wind in the Adriatic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, and Turkey....
and sirocco storm winds.
Frequent cold mountain wave
Mountain Wave
Mountain Wave is a security management company in the United States. It was acquired by Symantec on July 2, 2002....
wind situations during winter associated with cold high pressure systems over the mainland prevail in the innermost Bay at Risan and vegetational zones are compressed by the impact of bora. In addition the thermophylic communities of maquies and phrygana formations show the noticeable absence of some mediterranean species.
Synecology
The iris appears in following alliances: Seslerion juncifoliae Horvat 30 (with the vicariant Seslerion robustae (Horvat) Lakus. endemic to Orjen) in the association Carici laevi-Helianthemetum balcanici Horvat 30 and Seslerio robustae-Juniperetum hemisphaericae (Hor.) Kus. and the Pinion heldreichii (Horvat) Lakus. alliance in the associations Fritillario-Pinetum heldreichii M. Jank. and Peucedano-Pinetum heldreichii M. Jank.According to preliminary observations two different subunits should be separated and both communities should be regarded as sub-associations within a united community. Apart from the subunit within Peucedano-Pinetum heldreichii M. Jank with notable altimediterranean Dinaric dry mountainous grassland and xerophytic tall herb taxa (Peucedanum longifolium, Senecio thapsoides ssp. visianianus and Juniperus nana) on not - too - shallow rendzic leptosols at the bases of higher cliffs, there is in depressions with deep chromic luvic cambisols a mesophytic tall herb community with numerous humidity indicators within Seslerion robustae where Iris orjenii forms a community of its own with respect to its spectrum of diagnostic species as well as its physiognomic structure. Associated species are Heracleum sphodyllum, Lilium martagon var. cattaniae and Asphodelus albus. The appearance of Paeonia daurica Andrews (syn. Paeonia mascula subsp. triternata Boiss.), as observed at the latter community and nearby scattered individuals of Betula pendula and Acer heldreichii, underline that specially this part of Mt. Orjen belongs to the transitional oromediterranean type where the orophytic vegetation contains mixtures of submediterranean and temperate chorological elements.
Evolution
Cross-breeding of close related species belonging to different chorions as it was probably the fact with the putative parent species of I. orjenii are thus readily explained by the driving climatological forces of scirocco and bora which induce vegetation mosaics of temperate and mediterranean elements at different altitudes. Thus the narrow zone of transitional climates and plant communities on Orjen is most noticeable expressed by several transitional plant communities and contains not only mixtures of species from more than one climatic zone, but in addition endemic and even stenoendemic species which are restricted to this transitional zone.Two other species occur on Mt. Orjen, Iris pseudopallida Trinajstic and I. reichenbachii var. bosniaca, both with equal chromosome numbers (2n=24). I. orjenii appears somewhat intermediate, in height of stem, colour of flowers and consistence of spathes. The shape of the tepals is different from I. pseudopallida but similar to those of I. reichenbachii var. bosniaca. The spathe dries out before or during flowering time, getting white to slightly brownish, sometimes with a violet teint, a diagnostic feature for the whole Pallida series, whereas in I. reichenbachii the spathe is sharpely keeled and stays completely green until flowering period is over. Shape of seed, a character regarded to be of high diagnostic value reveals similarity to those of I. cengealti and I. illyrica, both closely related to I. pseudopallida, but striking dissimilarities to the latter, which has compressed seeds. Seeds of I. reichenbachii are described to be similar to those of I. orjenii. Shape and undulation of falls and standards are much more similar to I. reichenbachii, whereas no white flowered individuals from wild population of this species have been reported.
White flowering plants of I. pallida from the region of Dubrovnik and white flowering individuals have been spotted occasionally in bigger populations in southern Dalmatia.
A hybrid origin of I. orjenii might be suspected, the more as it is found exactly at the height where areals of I. pseudopallida and I. reichenbachii potentially overlap.
Thus the closest I. orjenii population was seen only 2 km from a remote I. pseudopallida locality and I. reichenbachii is found in the immediate vicinity of all known stands of I. orjenii.
The morphological homogeneity of I. orjenii and the ecological specialisation also favour exclusion of a spontaneous hybrid population hypothesis. I. orjenii is fully fertile and generative propagation in situ has been examined.
The new species is restricted to humid chromic luvic cambisols in the high altimediterranean level. The eu- to supramediterranean I. pseudopallida in contrast is widespread on bare limestones or initial rendzic leptosols (Rendzina) in a variety of mediterranean and submediterranean alliances of coastal karst plains, on megacliffs in the Ephedero-Cyxthoselinetum palmoidis alliance and on montane limestone escarpments in the Campanula-Moltkeetum petaeae H-Iċ alliance.
I. reichenbachii var. bosniaca and I. orjenii have strong affinities in their phytosociologial character as they are constituents of Festuco-Seslerietea Barbéro & Bonin 1969 with I. reichenbachii var. bosniaca common in Seslerietalia juncifoliae H-at and Crepedetalia dinaricae Lksic. associations on shallow rendzic leptosols of Dinaric high altitudinal limestone pastures and Pinion heldreichii alliances. But ecological differences exist as I. orjenii is never found on extremely shallow soils.
Concluding from both morphology and ecology, a hybrid origin followed by speciation seems the best explanation for the restricted occurrence of I. orjenii.