Allium aralii (Amaryllidaceae, sect. Codonoprasum), a New Species from Southeastern Anatolia (Türkiye) Based on Morphological Characters and Phylogenetic Evidence

Allium aralii Balos, Köse & Sonay sp. nov. (Amaryllidaceae, sect. Codonoprasum) is described as a new species from southeastern Anatolia, Türkiye. The species is morphologically distinguished from its closest relatives—A. euphraticum, A. turcicum subsp. turcicum, A. turcicum subsp. fusciflorum, and A. yilandaghense—by a unique combination of characters: blackish outer bulb tunics, semi-cylindrical solid leaves exceeding the inflorescence, an extremely long persistent two-valved spathe (4.5–28.0 cm), a lax hemispherical inflorescence (3–4 cm diam., 10–70 flowers), a goblet-shaped perigon with dentate inner tepals, exserted bicolored stamens (white at base and apex, purple in the middle), a reticulate-foveate ovary, and verrucate seed ornamentation with undulate anticlinal walls. Seed micromorphology examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) further supports species delimitation. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear ITS and chloroplast matK sequences place A. aralii within a well-supported clade containing A. turcicum and allied species, corresponding to the eastern Mediterranean lineage of sect. Codonoprasum. ITS genetic distances between A. aralii and its morphologically closest relatives range 0.0632, falling within the typical interspecific range for Allium. The species is known from a single locality in Bozova district (Şanlıurfa) with fewer than 100 mature individuals and is assessed as Critically Endangered (CR) according to IUCN criteria. This discovery highlights southeastern Anatolia as an underexplored center of Allium diversification and underscores the importance of integrative taxonomy for species delimitation within this taxonomically complex group.