Morphological Investigation of Some North Cyprus Endemics

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the morphology of nine endemic plant species belonging to 5 families distributed in North Cyprus and also to assess the systematic positions of the species according to the data obtained. Drawings depicting the general view and detailed fl ower and fruit morphology of each species were made, micrographs of the seeds were taken by means of trinocular stereo dissection microscopy, and detailed morphological features were determined.It was observed that the species that were studied displayed certain differences from one another in that the seeds of Delphinium caseyi B.L. Burtt had a a scaled surface, the seeds of Rosularia cypria (Holmboe) Meikle, Rosularia pallidifl ora (Holmboe) Meikle and Sedum lampusae (Kotschy) Boiss. had a furrowed surface and the seeds surfaces of Hedysarum cyprium Boiss. did not have any ornamentation at all. Our investigation led us to believe that Rosularia cypria and Rosularia pallidifl ora were not separate species, but hybrids or varieties of the same species. Furthermore, endangered endemic species of North Cyprus were determined.