Celosia polystachya (Forssk.) C.C.Towns.

Hassan, Walaa A., Al-Shaye, Najla A. & Iamonico, Duilio, 2023, A critical inventory of the family Amaranthaceae s. str. in Saudi Arabia, Phytotaxa 626 (4), pp. 223-246 : 236

5.1. Celosia polystachya (Forssk.) C.C.Towns. , Hooker’s Icon. Pl. 38(2): 23. 1975

≡ Achyranthes polystachya Forssk. ,

Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 48. 1775.

Lectotype (designated here):— YEMEN. Wadi Surdud , s.d., Forsskål s.n. (BM00095055!, image of the lectotype available at http:// linnean-online.org/11651/).

Typification of the name Achyranthes polystachya :— Forsskål (1775: 48) published Achyranthes polystachya by giving a short diangosis (“ spiculis axillaribus confertis, brevibus, albis; caule decumbente ”) and a description; the provenance [“ Surdud ”, which refers to Wadi Surdud, sedimentary basin situated in W-Yemen] is reported [see also Forsskål (1775: CVII) who indicated “Ph.” as provenance of A. polystachya , meaning “Planites argillacea humida, montibus proprios” ( Forsskål 1775: CI)]. No specimen which can be considered as part of the original material for A. polystachya was found at C (see also Hepper & Friis 1994), where Forsskal’s Hebarium and types are mostly preserved (HUH Index of Botanists 2013b). Fortunately, we traced a further specimen at BM (barcode BM00095055). This specimen has one of the rather rare of Forsskål’s original field labels and the vernacular name “Suaed” and has come to BM via the herbarium of E. F. Nolte, who was professor at the University of Kiel (then the second university under the Danish monarchy; I. Friis, pers. comm.). BM00095055 can be considered for the lectotypification purpose (see also Hepper & Friis 1994) and it is here designated as the lectotype of the name A. polystachya .

Note:— Ghazanfar (2023 onwards) listed Celosia argentea L. for Plants of the Middle East as “A pantropical weed of cultivation. Bahrain... Saudi Arabia ... Yemen ” and cited in synonymy Celosia polystachya and Achyranthes polystachya . However, C. polystachya is a different species (see e.g., Thomas 2011 +, POWO 2023) and Ghazanfar’s record of C. argentea for Saudi Arabia is to be referred to C. polystachya .

Chorology:— Native to an area ranging from North-Eastern Tropical Africa to Kenya and the Arabian Peninsula ( POWO 2023).

Occurrence in Saudi Arabia :― ʿAsīr ( Collenette 1999), Jazan ( Miller & Cope 1996).

Specimina visa selecta:— SAUDI ARABIA . ʿAsīr, 44 km SSE of Abha, Wadi Sud’r , 11 november 1983, Collenette 4670 (E00686978!) ; Wadi al USS, between Jabal Sawdah and Mukaylah, 27 sep 1982, Collenette 3886 (E00686979!) .