Polygala cuspidata De Candolle (1824: 328)

Pastore, José Floriano B., 2013, A review of Vellozo’s names for Polygalaceae in his Flora Fluminensis, Phytotaxa 108 (1), pp. 41-48 : 44

7. Polygala cuspidata De Candolle (1824: 328) . Type: — BRAZIL. without locality, 1820, C. Steven s.n. (G!). Polygala bonavisio Vellozo (1829: 292) , syn. nov. Lectotype (designated here): — BRAZIL. Rio de Janeiro, " Habitat

campis apricis mediterraneis, " November 1783 –1790. Iconograph: Vellozo (1831: tab. 64).

Taxonomic notes:— The iconograph (tab. 64) is somewhat inaccurate and, presumably, was based on the description instead of a real specimen. Only the flower morphology seems to be based on real material. Taking into consideration the characters of the original description, i.e., herbaceous stems, linear bracts, and the inflorescence resembling that of P. quinqueangularis (= P. timoutou ) in association with the illustrated flowers which are not conspicuously crested, this name is very likely to be a synonym of P. cuspidata .