Erythrina velutina Willd., Neue Schriften Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin 3: 426. 1801.

Guedes-Oliveira, Ramon, Fortuna-Perez, Ana Paula, Pederneiras, Leandro Cardoso & Mansano, Vidal de Freitas, 2023, Erythrina L. (Phaseoleae, Papilionoideae, Leguminosae) of Brazil: an updated nomenclatural treatment with notes on etymology and vernacular names, PhytoKeys 232, pp. 1-43 : 1

10. Erythrina velutina Willd., Neue Schriften Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin 3: 426. 1801.

Fig. 10

≡ Chirocalyx velutinus (Willd.) Walp., Flora 36: 148. 1853.

≡ Corallodendron velutinum (Willd.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 173. 1891.

= Erythrina aculeatissima Desf., Tabl. École Bot. 1: 191. 1804, nom. nud. Type: France. Île-de-France: "dans le jardin et dans les serres du Museum d’Histoire Naturelle", ex hort., s.d., s.leg., s.n. (lectotype, designated by Krukoff and Barneby 1974, pg. 437: P [P02960024]). (1)

= Erythrina splendida Diels, Beitr. Veg. Ecuador: 96. 1937. Type: Ecuador. Guayas: Road from Guayaquil to Salinas, km. 89-90 from Guayaquil, just east of village of Buenos Aires. Alt. 35 m. Dry thorn scrub, 17 July 1986, Plowman 14314 (neotype, designated here: F [V0448423F]). (2)

= Erythrina velutina f. aurantiaca (Ridl.) Krukoff, Brittonia 3: 329. 1938. Type: Brazil. Pernambuco: Main island, scattered bushes near the village and in the Sapate. One full-grown tree in the cocoa-nut plantation at Sueste, [1887?], Ridley 35 (holotype: K [K000206207]; isolectotypes: BM [BM000931431], NY [NY00007988, frag. slide]). (3)

≡ Erythrina aurantiaca Ridl., J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 27: 30. 1890.

Type material.

Venezuela. Distrito Capital: Caracas, s.d., Humboldt 653 (lectotype [not holotype], designated by Martins and Tozzi 2018, pg. 400: B [BW13100010, sheet I; BW13100020, sheet II; BW13100030, sheet III]; isolectotype: P [P00660125]).

Notes.

Willdenow (1801) published E. velutina with a complete description of a specimen from Venezuela, but without mentioning any type specimen. Martins and Tozzi (2018) then designated, from the Willdenow’s type specimens in herbarium B, a collection from Humboldt composed of three sheets as the type of this name. However, as the authors mistakenly stated it as a holotype, the typification is corrected here to lectotype (Fig. 10 ). Walpers (1853, not 1854) published Chirocalyx mentioning E. velutina as a synonym of C. velutinus , but the genus was later synonymized under Erythrina in Engler and Prantl (1894). Kuntze (1891) published Corallodendron mentioning E. velutina as a synonym of C. velutinum , but the genus was also synonymized into Erythrina in Engler and Prantl (1894). Additional material: F (neg. 2378, photo of BW13100010), IAN (IAN001755, photo of F neg. 2378), MO (MO-1624337, photo n.v.; MO-1624338, photo n.v.).

(1) Desfontaines (1804) only mentioned the name E. aculeatissima in the Tableau de l’École de Botanique du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle without giving any description, hence it is considered a nomen nudum. The name was considered doubtful by Krukoff (1938), but then was treated as a synonym of E. velutina by Krukoff and Barneby (1974), where the authors designated a collection in herbarium P as the type specimen.

(2) Diels (1937) published E. splendida from Ecuador mentioning a collection from the province of Guayas in herbarium B (Diels 1230) as the type specimen, which was presumably destroyed in the bombing raid in 1943 ( Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin 2022). No duplicate or any other collection by Diels could be found on digital databases, so a collection from the same locality was designated as the neotype.

(3) Ridley (1890) published E. aurantiaca from a specimen in the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (Pernambuco, Brazil), with a full description and an illustration of a leaf, inflorescence, dissected flowers, fruit and seeds. The name was later synonymized under E. velutina f. aurantiaca by Krukoff (1938) based solely on a different coloring of the seeds of some specimens in the archipelago. As there were no other morphological characters to support this form, as the seeds vary in color both in the archipelago and on the mainland in Pernambuco and other Brazilian states (Guedes-Oliveira et al. manuscript in preparation), the name was synonymized into E. velutina by Martins and Tozzi (2018). Additional material: HUEFS (HUEFS000248863, photo of K000206207).

Etymology.

The specific epithet " Erythrina velutina " is derived from Latin, meaning " velvety ", and was presumably chosen due to the abundance of trichomes in the species, especially on the petiole, abaxial leaflet surface, peduncle, pedicel, and calyx.

Vernacular names.

According to Carvalho (2008) and herbarium records, E. velutina is generally known as “mulungu” in Brazil, and also as “mulungu-do-ceará” in the state of Amazonas; “bucaré” or “mulungu-da-flor-amarela” in Ceará, where it is also the motive for the name of the municipality of Mulungu; “muchôco” or “mulungá” in Minas Gerais; and “mulungu-da-caatinga”, “pau-de-coral”, “sanandiú”, “sananduva” or “suinã” (and spelling variations) in São Paulo.

Figures

Figure 10. Lectotype of Erythrina velutina Willd. (1801: 426), designated by Martins and Tozzi (2018: 400). Source: Herbarium Berolinense (B) - Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, BW 13100010, BW 13100020, BW 13100030.