Taraxacum atlanticum Pomel (1874: 9)

Kirschner, Jan, Štěpánek, Jan, Doostmohammadi, Moslem & Zeisek, Vojtěch, 2021, Taraxacum assemanii represents a new section: A revision of the misinterpreted Taraxacum primigenium, and the elucidation of the enigmatic Taraxacum section Primigenia (Compositae, Crepidinae), Phytotaxa 520 (2), pp. 117-136 : 132-133

4. Taraxacum atlanticum Pomel (1874: 9) .

Type:—[ Type indication: Lieux herbeux des montagnes du Sud: Djebel-Ksel, Djebel-Amour.] [ ALGERIA]. Aflou, 6 Jun 1860, A. Pomel ( MPU, no. det. 20548, lectotype, designated here) .

Note 1:— A single specimen annotated by A. Pomel as T. atlanticum , with an attached diagnosis written by him, and corresponding to the published one, comes from a locality not explicitly listed in the protologue. However, Aflou is a town in the Djebel Amour area (and Djebel Kser represents a summit in that range; J. Molina, in litteris).

Note 2:—The only species of T. sect. Piesis in North Africa was described under five names; it is a plastic and variable sexual species. The most frequently used name, T. microcephalum Pomel , is a later homonym; it was used for very different taxa from the Near East by other authors, moreover. There remain two names to be evaluated from the viewpoint of priority, T. atlanticum and T. getulum . Although seemeingly of equal priority, T. atlanticum is an earlier name as it was published in Part 1 of the Pomel’s work (in 1874), while T. getulum in Part 2 (in 1875). The epithet of T. atlanticum is appropriate and its type specimen is well preserved, having both flowering capitula and nearly ripe achenes.

Note 3:—For full description and notes, see Kirschner & Štěpánek (1999: 403–405), under the name T. pachypodum .

= Taraxacum microcephalum Pomel (1874: 8) , nom. illeg., non Schur (1866).

Type:—[ Type indication: Escarpements rocheux: Zouïa, près Garrouban.] [ ALGERIA]. Gorge de Zouïa. Près Ghar-Rouban , A. Pomel (lectotype: MPU, no. det. 20555, lectotype, designated here; isolectotype: MPU, no. det. 20556) .

Note 1:—The original gathering of T. microcephalum Pomel was divided to form two herbarium specimens, one with the locality specification, the other with the handwritten diagnosis, both annotated as T. microcephalum by Pomel. We therefore selected one of these two specimens as the lectotype.

Note 2:—The name Taraxacum microcephalum Schur belongs to T. besarabicum (Hornem.) Handel-Mazzetti ; it was typified and evaluated in Kirschner & Štěpánek (1999: 395).

= Taraxacum getulum Pomel (1875: 264) .

Type:—[ Type indication: Terrains sablonneux de la région des Ksours: Arbaouat.] [ ALGERIA]. Arbaouet , A. Pomel ( MPU, no. det. 20550, holotype) .

Note:—The decisive characters (outer phyllaries, achenes) of T. getulum are in full agreement with those of T. atlanticum ; the rather peculiar leaf shape of plants on the type herbarium sheet of T. getulum is found quite seldom in this species.

= Taraxacum pachypodum Lindberg (1932: 173) .

Type:—[ MOROCCO]. Atlas Medium , Ras-el-Ma prope pag. Azrou, in prato iuxta flumen Oued Ifrane, ca. 1600 m, H. Lindberg 5194 ( H, n. v., holotype; isotypes: MPU, no. det. 20558; K, no. det. 8794; S, no. det. 23428) .

= Taraxacum humbertii Maire (1936: 243) .

Type:—[ MOROCCO]. [ Type indication: ... montis Ayachi Atlantis Majoris, ad alt. 3300–3400 m] ... au Sud de la Cote 3449, vers 3300– 3400 m, Dj. Ayachi, 29 Jul 1923, H . Humbert ( MPU, no. det. 20551, holotype; isotype: P 84168!) .

Note:— Maire (1936: 243) compared his T. humbertii with T. glaciale and T. primigenium , on the basis of allegedly extremely short beak (“ Achaenia ... in rostrum (vix 0.15 mm longum) brevissimum abrupte contracta, sine pyramide ... ”): “Ce remarquable Taraxacum se rapproche par son rostre presque nul des T. glaciale Huet et T. primigenium Hand. ” However, there are no nearly ripe achenes in the whole type gathering, and those visible in one of the capitula are extremely young, without any developed beak. The other characters of the type material perfectly match those of T. atlanticum .