Cyathea grandifolia Willd. var. munita (Kuhn) Lehnert

Lehnert, Marcus, 2012, A synopsis of the species of Cyathea (Cyatheaceae-Polypodiopsida) with pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid fronds, Phytotaxa 61 (1), pp. 17-36 : 27-28

Cyathea grandifolia Willd. var. munita (Kuhn) Lehnert , comb. et stat. nov.

Basionym: Cyathea munita Kaulfuss (1824: 260) , nom. nud. Cnemidaria munita Presl (1836: 57) , nom. nud. Hemitelia munita Hooker (1844: 32) , nom. nud. Hemistegia munita Presl (1847: 47) , nom. nud. Hemitelia munita Kuhn (1869: 162) . Type:—„America,“ without date, Palisot de Beauvois s.n., Herb. Willdenow No. 20168 (holotype B-fragment US).

Hemitelia bullata Christ (1897: 81) . Hemitelia obtusa var. bullata (H.Christ) Domin (1929a: 71) . Cyathea obtusa var. bullata (H.Christ) Domin (1930: 142) . Type:— GRENADA. “In collibus prope Monte Felix,“ 1400 ft, 28 November 1889, Eggers 6035 (holotype B-fragment NY [Herbarium Krug & Urban], isotypes F, P, US)

Distribution and habitat: — St. Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago, and Venezuela at 300–1100 m.

Remarks: — This variety represents Cnemidaria grandifolia var. obtusa sensu Stolze (1974) . Kaulfuss (1824) did not cite any specimens for his Hemitelia obtusa . Stolze (1974) referred to Krug (1884 –1898), who cited Ryan s.n. (LZ, destroyed) and Sieber fl. mixta 331 (LZ, destroyed) as specimens annotated with this name in the Kaulfuss herbarium. Although Stolze did not see any authentic specimens of these collections, he considered them as possible syntypes. He did not realize that both specimens lie outside the proposed range of his Cnemidaria grandifolia var obtusa: Ryan s.n. is from Montserrat, and Sieber fl. mixta 331 from Martinique (M. Christenhusz, pers. comm.). Furthermore, the Sieber collection is a published syntype of Hemitelia kohautiana , a synonym of Cyathea grandifolia var. grandifolia . Therefore I think it is more justified to treat Hemitelia obtusa as a nomen nudum in the synonym of the latter variety.

The next available basionym is Hemitelia munita Kuhn. The type in the Willdenow herbarium consists of three fertile pinna pairs and fits Stolze’s description of this variety well . However, the sheet at B bears the annotation “Pallisot – Beauvois”, very likely referring to Baron Palisot de Beauvois, a French naturalist (1752–1820) who made extensive collections of plants and insects in West Africa, Haiti and the United States but of which most were lost in fires and ship wrecks before they could arrive in Europe ( Merrill 1936). It is not confirmed that he collected on the Lesser Antilles; he may have passed them on his way from Guinea to Haiti but he was stricken with yellow fever during this journey. Also, the ship would probably have stopped for new provisions at one of the French colonies, like Guadeloupe or Martinique, i.e. in the range of var. grandifolia . The only confirmed collecting activity by Palisot de Beauvois in the Neotropics is on Haiti, but Cyathea grandifolia does not occur here or the rest of Hispaniola; it is replaced here by C. horrida ( Linné 1753: 1092) Smith (1793: 416) . The few samples collected by Palisot de Beauvois that are preserved are also sparsely annotated and notoriously mislabelled, e.g. the provenances “Africa” and “America” are often confused.

Consequently I choose Hemitelia munita only reluctantly as new varietal basionym, given the possibility that the type specimen in the Willdenow herbarium has been erroneously attributed to Palisot de Beauvois.

Cyathea haughtii (Maxon) Tryon (1976: 48) . Alsophila haughtii Maxon (1944: 46) . Type:— COLOMBIA. Santander: Cerro Armas, 1300–1500 m, 26 July 1936, Haught 1957 (holotype US, isotype US).

Distribution and habitat: — Colombia at 1300–1500 m.

Cyathea horrida (L.) Smith (1793: 416). Polypodium horridum Linné (1753: 1092) . Hemitelia horrida (L.) Brown (1810: 158). Cnemidaria horrida (L.) Presl (1836: 57). Actinophlebia horrida (L.) Presl (1847: 48). Hemistegia horrida (L.) Fée (1850 -1852: 351). Cormophyllum horridum (L.) Newman (1854: 238). Type:— plate in Plumier (1693) Description des plantes de l'Amérique avec leurs figures 3: t. 4, (lectotype, designated by Proctor 1985: 157; authentic specimen (epitype) LINN-HL1251-59)

Cyathea commutata Sprengel (1804: 146) . Hemitelia commutata (Spreng.) Schlechtendal (1856: 474) . Type:—[ DOMINICAN REPUBLIC?]. “ Santo Domingo,“ without date, anonymous s.n. (holotype LZ, destroyed).

Hemitelia hookeri Presl (1848: 350) , nom. nud.

Hemistegia repanda Fée (1850 –1852: 351). Type :— BRAZIL or CUBA. Without date, Linden s.n. (holotype RB).

Hemitelia acuminata Schlechtendal (1856: 474) , nom. nud.

Hemitelia hookeriana Schlechtendal (1856: 474) , nom. nud.

Distribution and habitat: — Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru at 100–1350(–1500) m. Lower tropical mountain rainforests and foothills.

Remarks: —An occurrence in Brazil is unconfirmed except for the ambiguously labelled type of Hemistegia repanda .

Cyathea karsteniana (Klotzsch) Domin (1929b: 264) . Hemitelia karsteniana Klotzsch (1852: 42) . Cnemidaria karsteniana (Klotzsch) Tryon (1970: 52) . Type:— VENEZUELA. [Cultivated in the private garden of Privy Councillor Decker, chief court compositor in Berlin] Karsten s.n. (holotype „Columbien, Decker, 31 December 1851, Karsten 142 “ B, isotype „Culta in horto Deckeriano Berolini,“ 18 September 1850, PRC [Herb. Presl]).

Distribution and habitat: — Venezuela and Ecuador at 950–1550 m. Moist lower mountain forests.

Cyathea latevagans (Baker) Domin (1929b: 262) . Alsophila latevagans Baker (1881: 203) . Trichipteris latevagans (Baker) Tryon (1970: 45) . Type:— COLOMBIA: Antioquia, 6700 ft, 15 January 1880, Kalbreyer 1327 (holotype K, isotype B).

Distribution and habitat: — Colombia, Ecuador and Peru at 1850–3150 m. Along road cuts, rock escarpments and in low ridge top vegetation.