Trifolium multistriatum Koch (1843: 190)

Scoppola, Anna & Lattanzi, Edda, 2016, Remarks on the type material and the identity of the name Trifolium multistriatum W. D. J. Koch (T. vesiculosum aggr., Fabaceae), Phytotaxa 277 (3), pp. 275-281 : 276-278

Trifolium multistriatum Koch (1843: 190)

≡ Trifoliu m vesiculosum subsp. multistriatum (W.D.J.Koch) Gibelli & Belli (1892: 197) ≡ T. vesiculosum subsp. multistriatum (W.D.J.Koch) Arcangeli (1894: 499) ≡ T. vesiculosum var. multistriatum (W.D.J.Koch) Fiori (1925: 859) .

Holotype (indicated here): — ITALY. Trieste : Auf der neuen Aufschüttung von S. Andrea bey Triest , wahrscheinlich aus erstreutem Samen, August 1840, M. Tommasini s.n., sub Trifolium ( L1997850 !; image available at http://data. biodiversitydata.nl/naturalis/specimen/ L.1997850, Fig. 1A ).

Notes: —Material of this species was collected in 1840 by M. Tommasini at the “ immunizione ” of Campo Marzio/ St Andrea, close to the port of Trieste ( Marchesetti 1882, Gibelli & Belli 1892), and sent to W.D. J.Koch, who described it as new in 1843. We have identified three specimens housed in different herbaria, which could have been used to describe the species and could constitute type material. All three specimens match the protologue and fit perfectly with the concept of the species. We have been unable to trace any further material of the same gathering in any other herbaria.

First, a specimen ‘ ex Herbario Florae Illyricae ’ preserved at TSM (Trieste). It consists of several parts of a single plant, two of them inserted into small pieces of grey paper, arranged on a sheet not numbered which bears two Tommasini handwritten labels with the name of the species. One of them (the main label), bearing the annotation “ immunizione di Campo Marzio ”, is dated July 29, 1840. The second label, lacking any date, shows the annotation “ An der Anschüttung bey Triest einmahl gefunden; danach nicht mehr! Wird zurückerbeten “ [Found only once at the landfill near Trieste; then never again! Please return it]. It is noteworthy that a fragment of this specimen perfectly matches with the illustration of T. multistriatum (pl. MMCLV.II) drawn by H. G. Reichenbach (in Reichenbach & Beck von Mannagetta 1903) ; therefore it can be assumed that Reichenbach refers to this specimen when he writes “ Summa benevolentia ill. de Tommasini, …, speciminis Kochio quondam submissi, typicam partem commodavit.… ”. The annotation “ Please return it ” written by Tommasini on the label associated to the fragment confirms this loan. Although the specimen was collected at the type locality, the collection date does not fit exactly the protologue and therefore it cannot be regarded as type material.

Secondly, another relevant specimen was found in ‘Herbarium of the Syn. Fl. Germ. Helv.’ ( L 1997850!), among Koch’s collections in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Brahms). This herbarium was acquired by Suringar in 1865 and previously had been housed at L ( Stafleu & Cowan 1979). That second herbarium sheet (http://data. biodiversitydata.nl/naturalis/specimen/ L.1997850!) ( Fig. 1A ) bears the original label by Tommasini “ Trifolium / Auf der neuen Aufschüttung von S. Andrea bey Triest, wahrscheinlich aus verstreutem Samen. August 1840 / Tommasini ” referred to by Koch in the protologue: “ …. In locis mari contiguis, (auf d. neuen Anschüttung bei Triest, wahrscheinlich dch eingebrachten Samen angesiedelt, Tommas.) Aug. … ”. The sheet also provides an undated annotation in Koch’s handwritting “ An Sandro ” (likely to be referred to Alexander Braun), which specifies some details on the species occurrence; he also states “ …. und Tommasini hat mir ein einziges Exemplar geschi [?ckt] ” […and Tommasini sent to me a single specimen of it], and closes with “ Die Pflanze war mir übrigens zu merkwürdig als dass ich sie hätte zur Seite schieben wollen ” [As the plant seemed too strange to me, I did not want to neglect it]. This note should have been added later on and never published ( G.Thijsseh in litt.). That sheet seems to contain the one single specimen used by Koch to describe T. multistriatum , and therefore we consider it as the holotype of the name according to Art. 9.1 of the Melbourne Code ( McNeill et al. 2012, McNeill 2014).

Finally, a third relevant specimen is stored in the Herbarium Visiani preserved in the Herb. R. Horti Patavini ( PAD H 0051029!) ( Fig. 1B ). Some fragments are inserted into a small piece of paper without annotations as being parts of the same specimen. Particularly, the label, undated, handwritten by Visiani and signed by Tommasini, reads “ Trifolium multistriatum Koch ined.! / S. Andrea di Trieste / per caso, forse dalla Sicilia ”. In fact, Visiani (1852) in Flora Dalmatica notes “ Specimina nostra (referred to a specimen of A. Andrich from his herbarium) omnino eadem cum specimine authentico T. multistriati Koch e Tergesto a cl. Tommasinio comunicato ”. Gibelli & Belli (1892) also state “ … Vidimus specimina authentica circa Tergestum a cl. Tommasinio lecta, a cel. Kochio denominata, et nobis a cl. Prof. Saccardo Univ. Patav. comunicata ” and then “ … L’esemplare autentico da noi esaminato non è completo, mancando la radice e le foglie inferiori… ”. Then they report the exact test of the label without the exclamation mark that was probably written by them to assert their revision. Marchesetti (1896 –1897) also confirms that Visiani had received a specimen collected in 1840 from Tommasini who had sent some material to Koch prior to its description as a new species. However, there is no evidence that Koch examined himself this voucher, because he received a single specimen ( L 1997850) which remained in his personal herbarium. Furthermore, provided that the specimen PAD H 0051029 lacks any exact information on the collection date, it cannot be regarded as type material.

Indeed, this species was found by Tommasini only once (at a single site), but it should have been gathered in two different times and dates. We assume that at least two collections were made at the type locality since the specimen at TSM is labelled ‘ 29 July 1840 ’ and that at L is labelled ‘ August 1840 ’, while that at PAD is undated.

Figures

FIGURE 1.A) Holotype specimen of Trifolium multistriatum W.D.J.Koch preserved at L (L1997850!); B) Other relevant material at PAD (PADH0051029!).