As confirmed by recent workers (Kern, 1974: 722; Koyama, 1985: 342; ... Flora of Ceylon, vol. 5. ... International Botanical Congress Vienna, Austria, July. 2005.
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Dey & Prasanna • Epitypification of Scleria terrestris
Epitypification of Scleria terrestris (L.) Fass. (Cyperaceae) Sangita Dey & P. Venkateswara Prasanna Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, Howrah-711103, West Bengal, India. sangitabsi@ gmail.com (author for correspondence) The name Zizania terrestris L. ( ≡ Scleria terrestris (L.) Fass.) was apparently based solely on a plate in Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus labelled “Katou Tsjolam”, a Malayalam dialect name for the plant figured. As the plate shows characters of two different taxa, an epitype of Scleria terrestris is designated here to fix the current usage of the name.
KEYWORDS: Cyperaceae, epitype, Scleria, typification
INTRODUCTION Scleria terrestris (L.) Fass., the name applied to one of the most commonly occurring species of the genus Scleria, is based on Zizania terrestris, named by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum (Linnaeus, 1753: 991), entirely, it would seem, on the basis of the synonym “Katou-Tsjolam. Rheed. mal. 12. p. 113. t. 60” Rheede (1693: 113). Hence the only element available to serve as type of the name is the illustration of “Katou Tsjolam” (local Malayalam name) in Hortus Malabaricus (Rheede, 1693: 113, t. 60). Linnaeus marked Zizania terrestris with an †, indicating an imperfectly known species. Fassett (1924: 159) concluded that the illustration was of the species then known as Scleria elata, and transferred the epithet to Scleria Berg. (Cyperaceae), proposing the new combination Scleria terrestris with Zizania terrestris as basionym. However, a critical examination of the plate in the light of the brief Latin description in Rheede (1693) (translated into English in Manilal, 2003) shows characters of two different taxa. The Latin descriptions “caules … in geniculis follis viridibus, oblongis, angustis, rigidis, anterius cuspidatis, vestiti ” (stems covered at the nodes with green oblong narrow rigid anteriorly pointed leaves [i.e., leafy primary bracts]) and “ex geniculis petiole prodeunt tenues, illi in calycibus foliosis gemmas concipiunt rotundas, nigricantes, vitreas” (slender petioles arise from the nodes, which bear, in leafy calyces, round, black buds), represent prominent features of Scleria but caules rotundi (culm terete/round) and fructus cum succo Areka laevigatus (fruit “lightened” with the juice of Areca/juicy fruit), are the key features of some Poaceae. Also, the etymology of Katou-Tsjolam refers to the common millet, Sorghum bicolor (Manilal, 2003: 198). As confirmed by recent workers (Kern, 1974: 722; Koyama, 1985: 342; Simpson & Koyama, 1998: 426) the culm in Scleria is triquetrous/trigonous (never terete/round) and the nut has a crustaceous/bony pericarp.
So, although the Rheede plate looks like the Scleria species to which Fassett applied it, its critical identification, e.g., to an infraspecific taxon is not possible. Moreover, the accompanying description includes features not found in Scleria. Therefore, an epitype is designated here (ICBN Article 9.7, McNeill & al., 2006), to fix the application of the name in the sense adopted since 1924. The epitype is chosen here from material originating from the geographical area given by Linnaeus (1753) in his statement of provenance of Z. terrestris (“Habitat in Malabariae siccis”).
TYPIFICATION Zizania terrestris L., Sp. Pl. 2: 991. 1753 ≡ Scleria terrestris (L.) Fass. – Lectotype (designated by Majumdar & Bakshi, 1979: 354), if not holotype: [icon] “Katou Tsjolam” in Rheede, Hort. Malab. 12: t. 60. 1693 – Epitype (designated here): [INDIA], Kerala, Palghat, Aruvampara, 750 m, 10th October 1979, N.C. Nair 64475 (MH) (“isoepitype”: K).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors express their sincere gratitude to Dr. M. Sanjappa, Director, B.S.I. and to Dr. M.S. Mondal, Joint Director, CNH for facilities and encouragement. We are grateful to Dr. John McNeill and two anonymous reviewers for their critical review of the manuscript.
LITERATURE CITED Fassett, N.C. 1924. A study of the genus Zizania. Rhodora 26: 153–160. Kern, J.H. 1974. Cyperaceae. Pp. 435–753 in: Van Steenis, 293
Dey & Prasanna • Epitypification of Scleria terrestris
C.G.G.J. (ed.), Flora Malesiana, ser. 1, vol. 7, part 3. Leyden, Netherlands. Koyama, T. 1985. Cyperaceae. Pp. 125–405 in: Dassanayake, M.D. & Fosberg, F.R. (ed.), A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon, vol. 5. Amerind Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum. Salvius, Stockholm. Majumdar, N.C. & Bakshi, D.N.G. 1979. A few Linnaean specific names typified by the illustrations in Rheede’s Hortus Indicus Malabaricus. Taxon 28: 353–354. Manilal, K.S. 2003. Van Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus (Malabar Garden), English ed., vol. 12. University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram. McNeill, J., Barrie, F.R., Burdet, H.M., Demoulin, V.,
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Hawksworth, D.L., Marhold, K., Nicolson, D.H., Prado, J., Silva, P.C., Skog, J.E., Wiersema, J.H. & Turland, N.J. (eds.). 2006. International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Vienna Code). adopted by the Seventeenth International Botanical Congress Vienna, Austria, July 2005. Regnum Vegetabile 146. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag, Ruggell, Liechtenstein. Rheede tot Draakestein, H.A. van 1693. Hortus Indicus Malabaricus, vol. 12. J. van Someren & J. van Dyck, Amsterdam Simpson, D.A. & Koyama, T. 1998. Cyperaceae. Pp. 247–485 in: Santisuk, T. & Larsen, K. (eds.), Flora of Thailand, vol. 6, part 4. The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department, Thailand.
