Crocus melantherus, 2016

Harpke, Dörte, Kerndorff, Helmut, Pasche, Erich & Peruzzi, Lorenzo, 2016, Neotypification of the name Crocus biflorus Mill. (Iridaceae) and its consequences in the taxonomy of the genus, Phytotaxa 260 (2), pp. 131-143 : 137

C. melantherus (B.Mathew) Peruzzi comb. nov.

Basionym: — C. biflorus Mill. subsp. melantherus Mathew (1982: 81)

Type: — Crocus melantherus Boiss. & Orph. in shed. (syntypes; one of them traced in P, barcode P00622958 !).

Distribution: — S Greece (Peloponnese) ( Mathew 1982).

Note: — Mathew (1982) published his subspecies as a putative new combination (“ C. biflorus subsp. melantherus (Boiss. & Orph. ex) B. Mathew” [sic!]), providing a Latin diagnosis and citing as basionym a name at species level appearing just on herbarium labels. According to Art. 40.7 of the ICN ( McNeill et al. 2012), even in the absence of a herbarium indication, the indication of a collection can be accepted as type indication, given it is a pre-1990 name. Hence, the name published by Mathew does not constitute a new combination, but a new subspecies (Art. 46.4 of ICN; McNeill et al. 2012). In IPNI (2012 onwards), the specific name “ Crocus melantherus Boiss. ex Maw ” is appearing. However, by looking at its putative protologue ( Maw 1881: 749), it is evident that this name is only cited as a doubtful synonym of C. crewei Hook.f. , and it is not validly published (Art. 36.1 of ICN; McNeill et al. 2012).