Agarista oleifolia (Cham.) G.Don (1834: 838)

Dalastra, Claudenice Hilda & Heiden, Gustavo, 2023, Typifications and nomenclatural notes on Agarista (Ericaceae, Vaccinioideae, Lyonieae), Phytotaxa 618 (1), pp. 1-17 : 6-8

5. Agarista oleifolia (Cham.) G.Don (1834: 838)

≡ Andromeda oleifolia Chamisso (1833: 504) ≡ Leucothoë oleifolia (Cham.) Candolle (1839: 605) .

Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais, Itambé [ Itambé do Mato Dentro ], F. Sellow 857 (lectotype G00352006 , image!, here designated; isolectotypes E00326873_6 , image!, F0055222 , fragment!, K000494437 , image! K000494441 , image!, L0006638 , image!, L0006639 , image!; NY00008243 , fragment!; the former lectotype B†, designated by Sleumer 1959: 475).

= Leucothoë ambigua Meisner (1863: 156) var. peduncularis Meisner (1863: 156) . Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Serro do Frio [Serro], July 1841, G. Gardner 4987 (lectotype US 00116787 image!, here designated; isolectotypes E00326872, image!, F0055436!, G00352018, image!, GH00015106, image!, K000494439, image!, K000494440, image!, L0006644, image!, NY00010135!, NY00010136!, NY00010160!, NY00010161!, P00715925, image!, P00715926, image!, S05-4186, image!, W0059348, image!; the former lectotype (Herb. Sonder) BM, lost, designated by Sleumer 1959: 476).

= Leucothoë ambigua Meisner (1863: 156) var. longifolia Meisner (1863: 156) ≡ Leucothoë oleifolia var. longifolia (Meisn.) Sleumer (1959: 476) . Type:— BRAZIL. Goiás: Arrayas [Tocantins: Arraias], 1841, G. Gardner 3876 (lectotype K000494445, image!, here designated; isolectotypes E00326874, image!, F0055435!, G00352024, image!, K000494444, image!, L0006637, image!;, NY00010133!, P00715927, image!, P00715928, image!, P00715929, image!, W0059347, image!; the former lectotype (Herb. Sonder) BM, lost, designated by Sleumer 1959: 476).

= Leucothoë rivularis Sleumer (1935: 481) . Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais [Minas Gerais / Rio de Janeiro]: Serra do Itatiaia [Parque Nacional do Itatiaia], 2100 m, 27 December 1895, E.H.G. Ule 3737 (lectotype HBG515530, image!, here designated; isolectotypes F0055449, fragment!, HBG515448, image!, L0006643, image!; the holotype B†, Sleumer 1959: 481).

Note on Agarista oleifolia :—Chamisso (1834: 504) described this species with short petiolate leaves, leaf blade oblong, flat, glabrous, with a subacuminate apex, axillary racemes as long as the leaves, calyx lobes acute acuminate, red oblong crimson corollas, glabrous bud, and indumentum of inflorescences and calyx varying from glabrous to hirsute.

Sellow dispatched his collections to the Royal Botanical Garden at Scĥneberg, now part of B ( Urban 1893, Moraes 2020, Carvalho et al. 2022). The original material deposited at B was destroyed during WW II. The remaining syntypes consists of six entire specimens (E00326873_6, G00352006, K000494437, K000494441, L0006638, L0006639) and two with fragments from the original material (F0055222F, NY00008243). The material at NY is a mixed sheet mounted with assembled fragments of three different collections, all of them belonging to Agarista oleifolia . There is another sheet at HAL (HAL098138) morphologically similar and comprising an equal label as L0006638, which could be a duplicate from the original material; nonetheless, there is not enough information to confirm it as a syntype.

In the protologue of Agarista oleifolia, Chamisso (1833: 504) do not cite a specific herbarium or collection number, only “Sellow in schedula.” G. Don (1834: 838) indicated the collection as “Native of the equinoxial Brazil ”, followed by Candolle (1839: 605) as “Brasilia aequitionalis”. Sleumer (1959) retrieval the collection number (Sellow 857) and location (Minas Gerais, Itambé [Itambé do Mato Dentro]), whereas Judd (1984, 1995) kept the information about the location type, but not the collection number. We here keep both information indicated by Sleumer (1959) because the morphological variation indicated in the protologue (inflorescences with calyx varying from glabrous to with hirsute indumentum) is characteristic of plants of this species from the Itambé do Mato Dentro region. Additionally, according to Urban (1893), Sellow collected in Minas Gerais between mid-1830 until November 1831 in about 1500 distinct localities. According to Carvalho et al. 2022, the Sellow collection numbers for Minas Gerais are between the numbers 801–1450, which matches with information retrieval by Sleumer (1959). Sleumer (1959) called the B† specimen as “ holotype ”, and the remaining duplicate specimens as “isotypes”. Judd (1984, 1995) followed this same pattern of type designation. According to the Art. 7.11, Ex. 13 of the ICN (Turland el al. 2018), Sleumer (1959) designated the B† specimen as the lectotype. The remaining duplicates then became isolectotypes. As this lectotype is no longer available, a new lectotype must be designated as its substitute (Art. 9.11).

We designated the specimen G00352006 as lectotype of Agarista oleifolia , following the Art. 9.12 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018). We choose this specimen because it bears an original label from the Sellow collection at B†, with Sellow’s handwriting. The specimen is well preserved having both flowers and fruits, agrees with the protologue, and is available in the digital herbarium database through JSTOR Global Plants ( JSTOR 2022).

Note on Leucothoë ambigua var. peduncularis :—The syntypes of Gardner 4987 consist of 16 specimens, 13 entire sheets ( E00326872 , F0055436 F, G00352018 , GH00015106 , K000494439 , K000494440 , NY00010135 , NY00010136 , P00715925 , P00715926 , S05-4186 , US00116787, W0059348 ) and three sheets with fragments detached from the original main material ( L0006644 , NY00010160 , NY00010161 ). The specimens NY00010160 and NY00010161 have few fragments mounted together with NY00010136 . No additional material has been found at BM. No lectotypification of this name was proposed until the present.

The type location of Leucothoë ambigua var. peduncularis , “Serro do Frio” (or “Serro Frio”), was the headquarters of the district of Serro do Frio in northeast of the captaincy of Minas Gerais at the time of the collection and it was later elevated to the category of city, with the name of Serro (indicated in the heading) in 1838 (Memória do Judiciário Mineiro, 2022). Gardner collected in Brazil between 1836–1841 and the original material is at BM. Robert James Shuttleworth used to correspond with Meissner, and the type material of L. ambigua var. peduncularis seems to have been part of the personal herbarium of Shuttleworth, one of the most significant botanical acquisitions ever made by BM, comprising around 170,000 specimens from several collectors around the world and contemporary botanists collecting in the first half of the 19th century (Robert James Shuttleworth in JSTOR 2022).

Originally, Sleumer (1959) indicated the holotype as deposited in the herbarium of The Natural History Museum (BM-Herb. Shuttleworth) and “destroyed”. According to Art. 7.11, Ex. 13 of the ICN (Turland el al. 2018), Sleumer (1959) designated the specimen at BM as the lectotype. The remaining syntypes specimens then became isolectotypes. This type status was sustained, but the information of it as being destroyed was considered doubtful by Judd (1984, 1995). Contacting the BM herbarium curator, no material referring to this collection was found in this herbarium. Therefore, we indicated it here as “lost”. As this lectotype is no longer available, a new lectotype must be designated as its substitute (Art. 9.11).

We designated the specimen US 00116787 as lectotype (Art. 9.12).We choose this specimen because the availability of inflorescences and flowers, better representation of the racemes longer than leaves, the elongated pedicels and rachis and calyx with densely hispid glandular trichomes. The label of this specimen also has the collection number in Gardner’s handwriting. Additionally, this specimen is available in the digital herbarium database from US ( US 2022) and through JSTOR Global Plants ( JSTOR 2022).

Note on Leucothoë ambigua var. longifolia :—This material was originally deposited in the BM-Herb. Shuttleworth. Sleumer (1959) indicated the holotype as deposited at BM-Herb. Shuttleworth as “destroyed”. The remaining syntypes include 10 entire specimens (E00326874, F0055435F, G00352024, K000494444, K000494445, NY00010133, P00715927, P00715928, P00715929, W0059347) and one with fragments (L0006637). No type material of this variety was found at BM. There are no previous indications in the revisions of Sleumer (1959) and Judd (1984, 1995) if the collections of Gardner 3876 were destroyed or lost and no duplicate material of this collection was found at BM. We indicated it here as “lost”. As this lectotype is no longer available, a new lectotype must be designated as its substitute (Art. 9.11).

Gardner collected these specimens of Leucothoë ambigua var. longifolia in Arrayas, north of Goiás state in the 19 th century. This region and the city of Arraias currently belongs to the state of Tocantins ( Ribeiro 2022) which became emancipated from Goiás by 1989, and this update is indicated in the header of the name, in accordance with the Art. 9.2 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018). This update is an important novelty regarding the distribution of Agarista , being the first and only record of the genus occurrence in Tocantins State.

We designated the specimen K000494445 as lectotype of Leucothoë ambigua var. longifolia because it is well preserved and also conserves important features indicated in the protologue, such as elongate racemes with wellpreserved capsules, long lanceolate leaves, and small and tomentose pedicels. This sheet has an original label from Gardner with the original collection information. Additionally, this material is available in the digital herbarium database from K ( Kew 2022), and through JSTOR Global Plants ( JSTOR 2022).

Note on Leucothoë rivularis :— Sleumer (1935: 481) described Leucothoë rivularis through the collection Ule 3737, which was considered closely related to L. stenophylla Loesener (1889: 77) , but with broader leaves that are almost rounded at the base. Sleumer (1935) indicated the type specimen was deposited at B and that a single specimen was found there. This type was destroyed in 1943. The remaining isotypes consist of three entire sheets (HBG515430, HBG515548, L0006643) and one with fragments from original material (F0055449F). No lectotypification of this name was previously proposed.

The type location of L. rivularis is the Serra do Itatiaia, now in Itatiaia National Park, created in June 1937, and comprising a massif of mountains bordering the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais ( ICMBIO 2022). Sleumer (1935), when publishing this name, indicated the state of Minas Gerais. However, in the label of HBG 515430 the state is corrected from “Sta. Catharina ” to Rio de Janeiro. In the photo F (220529 [4589]) of the holotype it is possible to visualize in the label that the name was corrected from “Sta. Catharina ”, but it is not visible to which state the type location was corrected, but is probably Minas Gerais, according to the species description made by Sleumer (1935). This divergent information about the state of origin of the type location, the area occupied by the Itatiaia massif in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, and the absence of more accurate information are assumed here. We indicated both states in the header of the name L. rivularis , following Art. 9.2 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018), assuming this uncertainty about the exact state of origin and taking care to not modify the authors’ original intentions.

We designated the specimen HBG515530 as lectotype of L. rivularis . This collection is well preserved, presents flowers, and is in accordance with the protologue with broader leaves that are almost rounded at the base. We choose this specimen due its original label that agrees with all the information available on the type. Additionally, this specimen is available in the digital herbarium database through JSTOR Global Plants ( JSTOR 2022).