A morphometric study of species delimitation in Sternbergia lutea (Alliaceae, Amaryllidoideae) and its allies S. sicula and S. greuteriana

Abstract

The morphological chararacters used to differentiate the species Sternbergia lutea (L.) Ker Gawl. ex Spreng., Sternbergia sicula Tineo ex Guss. and Sternbergia greuteriana Kamari & R.Artelari were found not to possess discrete or consistently different states during an attempt to produce an electronic multi-access key to the genus. Thus, variation in floral and leaf morphology in the three species was further explored to re-evaluate taxon limits using herbarium specimens and statistical methods, including principal components analysis (PCA) and elliptic Fourier analysis (EFA). This confirmed that variation was continuous between the three species. Sternbergia sicula and S. greuteriana are sunk into S. lutea and a revised description provided. It is suggested that cultivar status is the most appropriate rank for the cultivated forms of the S. lutea complex. © 2008 The Linnean Society of London.