COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGICAL, ANATOMICAL AND ECOLOGICAL STUDIES ON TWO VARIETIES OF Iris unguicularis SUBSP. carica (IRIDACEAE) IN TURKEY

Iris is the largest genus of family Iridaceae having 50 species with 24 endemic to Turkey. Here in this study we compared morphological, anatomical and ecological characters of two varieties of Iris unguicularis subsp. carica (Iris unguicularis subsp. carica var. carica and Iris unguicularis subsp. carica var. syriaca) from Turkey. We reported some distinctive morphological characteristics between both of the varieties like plant size, root length and width, leaf length and width, perianth tube, falls, standard fruit and bract length, falls and standards width and structure, flower colour which are of important taxonomic values. We further investigated that both the varieties are found in different localities and the differences in morphological properties are specific to ecological conditions. Soil analysis of both varieties reveal that CO3, Ca, Mg, Fe and Mn values are more effective than the other soil factors in the distributions of these varieties.