Cordia discolor Cham., Linnaea 4: 482. 1829.

Feuillet, Christian, 2016, Lectotypifications of six taxa in the Boraginales (Cordiaceae and Heliotropiaceae), PhytoKeys 62, pp. 95-100 : 96-97

1. Cordia discolor Cham., Linnaea 4: 482. 1829.

Varronia discolor (Cham.) Borhidi, Acta Bot. Hung. 34(3-4): 388. 1988.

Type.

Brazil. 1814, F. Sellow s.n. (B† [F0BN000966, photo!]; lectotype, here designated: LE [herb. Chamisso]; isolectotypes: HAL n.v. [HAL0098680, scan!], K! [K000583320, labelled "Ex reliquiis Sellowianis", scan!], P! [P00634049, scan!]).

Accepted name.

Varronia polycephala Lam.

Notes.

The name was given by Chamisso in 1829 to a northern South American shrub now recognized as a synonym of Varronia polycephala Lam. The material of Cordia discolor used by Chamisso and conserved at B was destroyed during World War II. I have seen the scans of the duplicates cited below as lectotype and isolectotype(s). Chamisso’s herbarium is in the collection of the Leningrad Komarov Institute (LE) in St. Petersburg. Correspondence with Irina Illarionova and Vladimir Dorofeyev (LE) resulted in the photographs of three Sellow specimens for Cordia discolor in the LE collections. One has "Hortus Botanicus Imperialis Petri Magni." printed on top of the sheet and has a label on the bottom that read "Herb. Reg. Berolinense/ Cordia discolor Cham. et Schl./Brasilia. Sellow legit". It seems to be part of the general collections of the LE herbarium, but not from Chamisso’s herbarium and the identification is not from Chamisso’s hand. Another one has 2 labels; one on the bottom left reads "Martii Herbar. Florac. Brasil N° 125" and on the bottom right "Herb. Reg. Berolinense. 1845/ Cordia discolor Cham. et Schl./Brasilia. Sellow legit.". It was sent to LE after Chamisso’s deathThe third one has one label in the bottom left corner that reads " Cordia discolor N." on top, “Sellow” on the bottom left, and on the bottom right "Bras. tropica" and below "Hb Cham". It has been seen and annotated by Chamisso. It is the best choice for a lectotype.

A fragment at F labelled Sellow 47 (GH n.v., fragment [GH00057561, scan!]) might be additional isolectotypes. In the Harvard University Herbaria Index of Specimens, F. Sellow 47 is listed as "Collector F. Sellow" and "Station 47"; the label reads "F. Sellow 472", number that corresponds to the type of Stylogyne pauciflora Mez ( Primulaceae ). It is likely that in most cases the numbers accompanying Sellow’s collections are not collection numbers.