Celosia japonica Houtt

Wijnands, Dirk Onno, Heniger, Johannes, Veldkamp, Jan Frederik, Fumeaux, Nicolas & Callmander, Martin W., 2017, The botanical legacy of Martinus Houttuyn (1720 - 1798) in Geneva, Candollea 72 (1), pp. 155-198 : 171

26. Celosia japonica Houtt .,

Nat. Hist. II(7): Aanwyz. Plaat. [2], 702, tab. 43, fig. 1. 1777.

Lectotypus (designated here by Callmander & Fumeaux): JAPAN: Thunberg s.n. ( G-PREL [ G00818101 ]!).

= Celosia pyramidalis Burm. f. , Fl. Indica: 65, tab. 25, fig. 1. 1768 [cited in Nat. Hist. II(7): 705]. 1777.

Lectotypus (designated here by Callmander & Fumeaux): [ INDONESIA. Java]: (Burman f., Fl. Indica: tab. 25, fig. 1. 1768).

= Celosia argentea L., Sp. Pl.: 205. 1753.

Notes. – Original material of Celosia japonica accepted under the Linnaean name C. argentea is present in G-PREL. The sole collection in the Japan herbarium collected by Thunberg is designated here as the lectotype of C. japonica . A Thunberg collection annotated by himself and Houttuyn as “ Celosia pyramidalis Burm. ” is in the Java herbarium in G-PREL [G00818112]. This collection cannot be considered as original material as the name is based on a cultivated plant originating from seeds collected in Java and grown at the Botanical Garden in Amsterdam (original description and Nat. Hist. II(7): 705. 1777). Figure 1 of plate 25 in Flora Indica by Burman f. is therefore designated as the lectotype in the absence of any original material.

A Pryon collection is present in the Burman herbarium (G-PREL [G00818142]), annotated by Pryon as “Amarantus foliis angustis, pyramidalis flagellis, luteo purpureis”.

There is a specimen in UPS-THUNB with no indication of its provenance (UPS-THUNB n° 5929). Another specimen was made from material grown much later in the Uppsala Botanical Garden (UPS-THUNB n° 5940); it has a fair resemblance to Houttuyn’s plate.

Celosia japonica is the first report by Houttuyn of a specimen from Japan in his own herbarium (see introduction p. 162).

Figures

Fig. 1. – Nerium oleander L. Example of a decorative pot in in Houttuyn’s herbarium in L. [© Nationaal Herbarium Nederland,Naturalis, L]