Türkiye’s first endemic navelwort discovered in İzmir

A new plant species unique to Western Anatolia has been discovered in Ödemiş, İzmir. Named "İzmir navelwort" in Turkish, the plant has entered scientific literature as Türkiye's first endemic navelwort species.

According to a statement from Ege University (EÜ), researchers from EÜ and Hacettepe University (HÜ) conducted studies on the species they suspected was distinct.

Fieldwork, morphological studies, and the scientific description of the species were carried out by Prof. Dr. Hasan Yıldırım and Dr. Tuğkan Özdöl from the Department of Biology at Ege University's Faculty of Science. Genetic and phylogenetic analyses were conducted by Dr. Barış Özüdoğru and Dr. Ilgın Deniz Can from Hacettepe University's Faculty of Science, Department of Biology. Laboratory procedures and measurements were supported by Dr. Ademi Fahri Pirhan and Dr. Şükrü Arasan.

Additional support for field studies and the manuscript review process came from Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Maruf Balos, while Musa Geçit contributed observations on the species' distribution.

The species, published in an international scientific journal, has the scientific name Umbilicus choripetalus and the Turkish name "İzmir navelwort." It is the first endemic navelwort species recorded in Türkiye.

Prof. Dr. Hasan Yıldırım noted that the species' dependence on volcanic soils makes it ecologically unique.