Viola flavicans Weddell (1864: 292)

Nicola, Marcela Viviana, Salomón, Luciana & Zuloaga, Fernando Omar, 2018, Nomenclatural and taxonomic study in species of Viola (Violaceae) from Argentina, Phytotaxa 338 (2), pp. 151-176 : 160-161

Viola flavicans Weddell (1864: 292)

Type:— BOLIVIA. Cinti: Dept. Chuquisaca, in graminosis alpinis, H.A. Weddell 3937 (lectotype, P 00169062 [digital image!], designated by Ballard et al. [2014]; isolectotype, P 00169061 [digital image!]) .

Protologue citation:—“Hab. Bolivia (Wedd.).”

Distribution:—Native of Argentina and Bolivia. In Argentina it is known for the provinces of Jujuy, Salta, and Tucumán.

Notes:—Harvey Ballard first selected the lectotype of Viola flavicans in two labels added in the specimen with the barcode number P 00169062. In one of the labels he mentioned: “Violets of South America, Viola flavicans Wedd. Harvey E. Ballard, Jr. 2000 Ohio University (BHO)” and in the other label he mentioned: “ LECTOTYPE Viola flavicans Wedd. 1864 . Ann. Sci. Nat. Ser. V. 1: 292. Harvey E. Ballard, Jr. (BHO)”. Later, Ballard et al. (2014) published the lectotype of Viola flavicans in the “Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares de Bolivia ”.

= Viola exigua W. Becker (1906a 590).

Type:— BOLIVIA. [Tarija:] Calderillo , 3000–3400 m, 10 January 1904, K. Fiebrig 2880 (holotype, B [destroyed]; lectotype, designated here G 00354849 [digital image!]; isolectotypes, BM 000513319 [digital image!], GH 00067169 [digital image!], K 000327892 [digital image!]) .

Protologue citation:—“Süd-Bolivia: Calderillo, gesellig in einer Höhe von 3000–4000 m sowohl an felsigen Hängen, als auch in der Talebene zwischen Gräsern, blühend am 10 Januar 1904 (Fiebrig n. 2880. Herb. Berol.!).”

Notes:—According to the protologue, the type material of Viola exigua was examined at B. However, this specimen is destroyed (Robert Vogt pers. comm.). We then selected the specimen with the barcode number G 00354849 as lectotype since it is an abundant and complete specimen, agrees with the protologue, and it presents a label with the identification handwritten in 1927 by Becker.

= Viola castillonii (W. Becker 1926b: 222) Xifreda & Sanso (1999: 1246) , syn. nov. Basionym: Viola exigua W. Becker (1906a: 590) var. castillonii W. Becker (1926a: 222) . Type (lectotype, designated here):— ARGENTINA. Tucumán: Cumbres de Lara, camino al Agua Blanca, 4000 m, January 1915, L.

Castillón 3691 (LIL 000985 [digital image!]; isolectotypes, B [destroyed], BAF [missing], A 00067170 [digital image!], LIL 000986

[digital image!]).

Protologue citation:— “ Argentina borealis: Prov. Tucumán, Cumbre de Lara , 4000 m, I. 1915 leg. Castillon (ex herb. M. Lillo sub no. 3691); typus in herb. W. Bckr. et Inst. Bot. et Farmacol. Buenos Aires; fl. amarilla.”

Notes:—Wilhelm Becker (1926a: 222) cited one collection of León Castillón deposited at B and BAF. Xifreda & Sanso (1999) cited “ holotipo LIL, isotipo BAF”. The specimen at B was destroyed during World War II (Robert Vogt pers. comm.; Hiepko 1987), the specimen at BAF is not actually at BAF (Gustavo Giberti pers. comm.), and the specimen at LIL consist of two sheets, A and B, with two different barcode numbers. Therefore, we reinterpreted Xifreda & Sanso (1999) and selected the specimen with the barcode number LIL 000985 as lectotype because it is an abundant and complete specimen, agrees with the protologue, and it includes a label with clear handwritten annotations about location and identification.

Xifreda and Sanso (1999) changed the status of Viola exigua var. castillonii and establish V. castillonii in the checklist of Argentina. Later, Ballard et al. (2014) treated V. exigua as a synonym of V. flavicans in the checklist of Bolivia. Until now, V. castillonii was treated as an endemic species of northern Argentina and V. flavicans restricted to Bolivia, with no subsequent taxonomic study performed comparing both taxa. Characters that differentiate them, according to the original descriptions, are leaf shape (oblong in V. castillonii and ovate in V. flavicans ) and pilosity (pubescent in V. castillonii and glabrescent in V. flavicans ). After examining material of both taxa, including types of V. castillonii and V. flavicans¸ we concluded that there are no diagnostic characters to maintain V. castillonii as valid taxa; consequently, the latter is here reduced to the synonymy of V. flavicans .