Phytotaxa 62: 11–12 (2012) www.mapress.com/ phytotaxa / Copyright © 2012 Magnolia Press
ISSN 1179-3155 (print edition)
PHYTOTAXA
Correspondence
ISSN 1179-3163 (online edition)
Lectotypification of the Linnaean name Acanthus spinosus (Acanthaceae) DUILIO IAMONICO1 & LORENZO PERUZZI2 1
Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy. Email:
[email protected] 2 Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Luca Ghini, 5, 56126 Pisa, Italy. Email:
[email protected]
The genus Acanthus Linnaeus (1753: 639) (Acanthaceae) is composed of 20 species distributed in Africa, southern Europe, southern Asia, and Australasia (McDade et al. 2005). Linnaeus (1753, 1756) published 5 names under Acanthus [A. dioscoridis Linnaeus (1756: 23), A. ilicifolius Linnaeus (1753: 639), A. maderaspatensis Linnaeus (1753: 639), A. mollis Linnaeus (1753: 639), A. spinosus Linnaeus (1753: 639)] of which two are currently referred to other genera (Jarvis 2007): A. ilicifolius L. is now accepted under Dilivaria Jussieu (1789: 103) as D. ilicifolia (L.) Jussieu (1789: 103), A. maderaspatensis L. under Blepharis Jussieu (1789: 103) as B. maderaspatensis (L.) Roth (1821: 320). One of these names, concerning the European flora, appears to be yet untypified, and it is therefore investigated here. Acanthus spinosus is known in mediterranean and south-eastern Europe (Italy, Croatia, Albania, Bulgaria, Crete, East Aegean islands, Greece), the Asiatic Turkey as well as in Algeria, and is currently accepted at specific rank (e.g., Marhold 2011). Linnaeus’ protologue (Linnaeus 1753, see Fig. 1) consists of a diagnosis, taken directly from Linnaeus (1738: 326) and Royen (1740: 304), with two synonyms cited from Bauhin (1623: 383) and Dodoens (1616: 719).
FIGURE 1. Protologue of Acanthus spinosus by Linnaeus (1753: 639).
The illustration in one of these references (Dodoens, under «Acanthus silvestris») matches well with the original description by Linnaeus and it can be considered for lectotypification of Acanthus spinosus. In the Linnaean Herbarium at LINN there is a sheet (No. 816.4), but lacking any annotation concerning the Species Plantarum numbering, it can be considered a post-1753 addition to the collection and therefore not as original material for the name. Moreover, the specimen lacks the leaves, whose characteristics (see protologue in Fig. 1) mark the Linnaean concept of the species. In the Herbarium Clifford there is one sheet (barcode BM000646247) that bears a plant certainly identifiable as A. spinosus; the phrase name («Acanthus aculeatus...») refers to Bauhin (1623). Also in the Herbarium Burser, connected with the Linnaeus citations of Bauhin (Jarvis 2007), a specimen labelled as "Acanthus aculeatus" was traced [Herb. Burser XXI: 48 (UPS)]. This herbarium sheet is original material, too. We have been unable to trace any further original material in any of the other Linnaean and Linnaeanlinked herbaria (Jarvis 2007). Indeed, no material was found in Herb. van Royen (L). All the elements here considered as original material show the leaves (pinnatifid) that mark a part of the Linnaean concept of the species («foliis pinnatifidis...»). As regards the presence of spines [Linnaeus (1753) reports «foliis...spinosis»], the image by Dodoens (1616) could be ambiguous, showing leaves with the apices
Accepted by Hajo Esser: 6 Aug. 2012; published online in PDF: 9 Aug. 2012
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of the laciniae appearing acuminate rather than spiny, while the exsiccatum in the Herb. Burser has very short spiny leaves and seems more identifiable with A. mollis. As the exsiccatum from the Herbarium Clifford is the original material that better conforms with the diagnosis by Linnaeus (1753), and it has long been considered representative of the species (e.g., the concepts of Heywood & Richardson 1968, Marhold 2011), it is here designated as the lectotype of the name A. spinosus. Linnaeus (1738) described the species from a plant cultivated in the Hortus Cliffortianus, but the plant might be native to Italy, according to the author's statement: «…crescit forte cum antecedenti…» [the previous name «Acanthus foliis sinuatis inermibus», was indicated as coming from: «…petrosis & umentibus Italiae meridionalibus circq Bajas & Neapolis, inque Sicilia copiose»].
Acanthus spinosus Linnaeus (1753: 639) Lectotype (designated here):—ORIGIN UNKNOWN. Herb. Clifford: 327, Acanthus 2 (BM000646247!).
References Bauhin, C. (1623) Pinax Theatri Botanici. Ludovici Regis, Basel, 522 pp. Dodoens, R. (1616). Stirpium Historiae Pempdates Sex. Durand & Pissot, Antwerpen, 872 pp. Heywood, V.H. & Richardson, I.B.K. (1968). Acanthus L. In: Tutin, T.G., Heywood, V.H., Burges, N.A., Moore, D.M., Valentine, D.H., Walters, S.M. & Webb, D.A. (eds.) Flora Europaea 2. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 283–284. Jarvis, C. (2007) Order out of Chaos: Linnaean plant names and their types. The Linnean Society of London and the Natural History Museum, London, 1016 pp. Jussieu, A.L. (1789) Genera Plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita, juxta methodum in horto region parisiensi exaratam. Herissant, Paris, 498 pp. Linnaeus, C. (1738) Hortus Cliffortianus. Salomon Schouten, Amsterdam, 518 pp. Linnaeus, C. (1753) Species Plantarum. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm, 1200 pp. Linnaeus, C. (1756) Centuria II Plantarum. Regia Academia Typographea, Uppsala, 34 pp. Marhold, K. (2011) Acanthaceae. Euro+Med Plantbase—the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Available from: http://ww2.bgbm.org/EuroPlusMed/PTaxonDetail.asp?NameId=839&PTRefFk=7200000 (accessed 25 July 2012). McDade, L.A., Daniel, T.F., Kiel, C.A. & Vollesen, K. (2005) Phylogenetic relationships among Acantheae (Acanthaceae): major lineages present contrasting patterns of molecular evolution and morphological differentiation. Systematic Botany 30: 834–862. Roth, A.W. (1820) Novae plantarum species praesertim Indiae orientalis. H. Vogler, Halberstadt, 412 pp. Royen, A. von (1740) Florae Leydensis prodromus. Samuel Luchtmans, Leiden, 538 pp.
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