Commelina longicaulis von Jacquin (1791: 234–235)

Hassemer, Gustavo, 2020, Further cleaning of the name pool in the New World Commelina (Commelinaceae), and notes on the African C. aquatica, Phytotaxa 435 (2), pp. 101-132 : 110

1.7. Commelina longicaulis von Jacquin (1791: 234–235)

Type: — VENEZUELA. “ Habitat ad rivulos Caracas ” [information on the folder, B barcode BW01060000!], s.d., Anonymous s.n. (lectotype [designated by Hassemer 2018a: 36] B barcode BW01060012! [ Figure 11 in Hassemer 2018a]).

Epitype (designated here):—(illustration) Plate 294 in von Jacquin (1793).

= Commelina glabra Meyer (1818: 22) (syn. nov.)

≡ Commelina diffusa f. glabra (G.Mey.) Rohweder (1956: 160)

Type: — GUYANA. S.d., E. C. Rodschied 74 (lectotype [designated here] GOET-000946! [ Figure 9 ]).

Notes: —The lectotype of C. longicaulis ( B barcode BW01060012— Figure 11 in Hassemer 2018a) has no flowers or fruits, and would not be enough to determine the application of this name by itself. Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin published a nice illustration plate for the species (Plate 294 in von Jacquin 1793), which however could not be considered original material because it was published two years after the name C. longicaulis . Nevertheless, because this plate was published by von Jacquin himself, it attests the intention of the author, and determines the application of C. longicaulis by displaying unequivocal taxonomic relevant characters, such as the presence of three staminodes with white antherodes (Hassemer 2019). Therefore, this plate has taxonomic importance for the application of C. longicaulis , despite not being original material for this name. In order to fix the correct application of C. longicaulis , I designate this illustration plate as epitype, in accordance with Art. 9.9 of the ICN.

The protologue of C. glabra ( Meyer 1818: 22) provided no information on provenance or collector. Nevertheless, I was able to locate one original specimen (GOET-000946— Figure 9 ), which is annotated “ glabra . mihi. ” by Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Meyer (Marc Appelhans, pers. comm.), and thus is designated here as lectotype. Morphology of this specimen evidences that C. glabra should be considered a synonym of C. longicaulis .

Figures

FIGURE 9. Lectotype of Commelina glabra (E.C. Rodschied 74, GOET-000946). Copyright: Universität Göttingen.

FIGURE 11. Lectotype of Commelina texcocana (E. Matuda 19249, MEXU-00090886). Copyright: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.Available online at: https://datosabiertos.unam.mx/IBUNAM:MEXU:T90886