Amaranthus gangeticus var. parvifolius Moquin-Tandon (1849: 261)

Iamonico, Duilio, 2016, Nomenclature survey of the genus Amaranthus (Amaranthaceae). 5. Moquin-Tandon’s names, Phytotaxa 273 (2), pp. 81-114 : 97

16. Amaranthus gangeticus var. parvifolius Moquin-Tandon (1849: 261)

Type (lectotype here designated):— INDIA. s.d., s. coll . s.n. (P001126105 (plant of the left) [digital image!], image of the lectotype is available at http://www.kew.org/herbcatimg/701628.jpg).

= Amaranthus tricolor Linnaeus (1753: 990) .

Type (lectotype designated by Townsend 1974: 14):—ASIA. Habitat in India, Herb. Linn. No. 1117.7 (LINN [digital image!], image of the lectotype is available at http://linnean-online.org/11633/).

Nomenclatural notes:— Moquin-Tandon (1849: 261) cited, after the diagnosis, “ A. polygamus Wall. ! [= Wallich] n. 514 ”. Wallich (1829: 231) invalidly published an Am. polygamus since no diagnosis was given (Art. 38.1 Ex.1). However, the Wallich’s species number in his Numerical List is 6899, not 514 as reported by Moquin-Tandon (l.c.). I found five sheets at K (Wallich’s specimens of Am. polygamus no. 6899, barcodes 001126104‒001126110, images available at http://apps.kew.org/herbcat/getHomePageResults.do?homePageSearchText= Amaranthus+polygamus &x=0&y=0&hom ePageSearchOption=scientific_name&nameOfSearchPage=home_page).As highlighted by Moquin-Tandon (1849: 261) in the protologue (see “ex parte”) not all these specimens are referable to the same taxon. The K001126107 (image at http://apps.kew.org/herbcat/getImage.do?imageBarcode=K001126107) bears some parts (two branches and three leaves), which are characterized in having flowers with bracts shorter than the tepals. These features do not match the Moquin-Tandon’s concept of Am. gangeticus , which was described for having “ ...calyce bracteis breviores...bracteae oblongae, acuminatae, setaceo-aristatae... ”. On the basis of the current concept in Amaranthus (see e.g., Carretero 1990, Iamonico 2015) the K001126107 is identifiable as Am. blitum var. blitum . Concerning the other specimens I here designated the K001126105 as the lectotype of the name Amaranthus gangeticus var. parvifolius .

Taxonomical notes:—Plants beared on the sheet K001126104‒001126106, and K001126108‒001126110 are characterized in having synflorescences in both glomerules and terminal spike-like structures, bracts awned and longer than the tepals, flowers with three tepals, and fruits shorter than the parianths. This morphological configuration matches with that of A. tricolor as currently recognized (see Iamonico 2014a, 2015).