Edit by maggi: Peter's post refers to the query in
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7262.msg206614#msg206614This is
Arum rupicola Boiss.
sensu lat. My treatment of this for the book was based on my fieldwork in Turkey, Cyprus, and Lesbos, but otherwise solely on herbarium material, albeit a great DEAL of material. Throughout this range the plant in the field is the
conophalloides morph. I searched for the slender spadix morph (
rupicola) in Syria but without success, since in those days (mid 80s) access to the mountainous parts of Syria along the Lebanese and Syrian borders was very difficult.
Ultimately I made my decision to merge all into one taxon, under the earliest name,
rupicola and comprising a complex containing the well-known names conophalloides and detruncatum, and a few obscure names such as
quellekense and
giganteum. In its sensu lat. manifestation
rupicola occurs from Lesbos to NW Iran, N into Armenia, and south as far as the Lebanese Bekaa Valley, and on Cyprus.
What needs to happen is for someone to tackle the species throughout its entire range and take into question the morphologically very similar
A. korolkowii and
A. jacquemontii that comprise the Rupicola Complex. Based on what I now much better understand than I did 25 years ago the taxa
rupicola complex may well be each far too broadly defined
