Triticum durum Desfontaines (1798: 114)

Ferrer-Gallego, P. Pablo, Laguna, Emilio, Obón, Concepción, Alcaraz, Francisco & Rivera, Diego, 2022, On the nomenclatural type of Triticum durum (Poaceae: Triticeae), Phytotaxa 555 (1), pp. 103-108 : 105

Triticum durum Desfontaines (1798: 114)

≡ Triticum turgidum subsp. durum (Desf.) Husnot (1899: 80)

≡ Gigachilon polonicum subsp. durum (Desf.) Löve (1984: 497)

≡ Triticum turgidum var. durum (Desf.) Yan ex Kuo (1987: 48)

≡ Triticum turgidum subsp. durum (Desf.) Van Slageren (1994: 91) , comb. superf.

Type (lectotype designated here):—[ MOROCCO]. Barbaria , s.d., R.L. Desfontaines s.n (P, 2-D code P00662178 ) ( Fig. 1 ) .

The protologue of Triticum durum , published by Desfontaines (1798: 114), includes the name TRITICUM DURUM followed by a short diagnosis “ TRITICUM culmo farcto; glumis pubescentibus, aristatis; spiculis quadrifloris”, a complete description of this species in Latin, and a geographical provenance of this species “COLITUR in Barbaria”. No illustrations were included in the protologue.

René Louiche Desfontaines (1750–1833) was a French botanist, professor at the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, France. His personal herbarium is now preserved at Herbs. BM, C, CGE, FI (acquired via Webb), LIV, MPU, and P (including PC, P–DESF, P–JU, and P–LA) ( Stafleu & Cowan 1976: 627–628).

We have found only a relevant herbarium sheet at Herb. P, with 2-D code P00662178, which contains original material of T. durum . The sheet bears two culms with leaves and inflorescences, and four labels. A label is annotated as “Herbier de la Flore Atlantique / donné au Muséum, par M. Desfontaines. / Nº. / Triticum durum ”, and two labels are handwritten by Desfontaines, both with detailed descriptions of the plant, and the annotation “Colitur in Barbaria” (image available at https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/p/item/p00662178). A fourth handwritten label indicated that this specimen was considered as “ Holotype ” by “G.A. & O.D.” in 2009, but this cannot be considered an effective typification since it was not published.

We have not found any other original specimen in any of the consulted herbaria (i.e., BM, C, FI, G, MPU, P), and most likely the specimen at Herb. P is the only original material used by Desfontaines in the description of this name. However, as we cannot exclude that there were more than one specimen of this taxon, we thus consider the specimen as the lectotype of the name T. durum . This specimen at Herb. P is consistent with the traditional concept and current use of the name (see e.g., Humphries 1980, Tan 1985, Morrison 2007).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lectotype of Triticum durum Desf., Herb. P (2-D code P00662178). Image courtesy of the herbarium P, reproduced with permission.