Centaurea crassifolia Bertol.

Tavilla, Gianmarco & Lanfranco, Sandro, 2024, Neotypification of the name Centaurea crassifolia Bertol. (Asteraceae), Adansonia (3) 46 (15), pp. 157-160 : 158

Centaurea crassifolia Bertol.

Annali di Storia Naturale, Vol. 2: 359 ( Bertoloni 1829). —

Palaeocyanus crassifolius (Bertol.) Dostál, Acta Botanica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 19 (1-4): 74 ( Dostál 1973); Dostál, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 71 (3): 192 (Dostál 1976). —

Cheirolophus crassifolius (Bertol.) Susanna, Plant Systematics and Evolution 214 (1-4): 157 ( Susanna et al. 1999).

Centaurea spathulata Zerafa (sic), Flora Melitensis Thesaurus 1: 11 non Ten. ( Zerapha 1827). nom. illeg.

TYPE MATERIAL. — Malta • Wied Babu ; 27.VI.1973; S. Brullo & G. Ronsisvalle 006836; neo-, CAT! [ Fig. 1 ]), here designated .

TYPIFICATION REMARKS

Bertoloni (1829) validly published the name Centaurea crassifolia . In fact, Zerapha (1827 -1831) first discovered and reported the plant as a new species for Malta. He described it as Centaurea spathulata in his Flora Melitensis Thesaurus (1831) . However, this name had been previously used by Tenore (1811), making Zerapha’s name illegitimate. Bertoloni validly described the species, providing a detailed diagnosis, and also mentioned that he had a specimen of the plant collected by Zerapha in his herbarium [“il cui esemplare proveniente dallo stesso Sig. Zeraffa sta nel mio erbario”] (specimen coming from Mr. Zeraffa [sic] himself is in my herbarium). Subsequently, Dostál (1973) proposed Palaeocyanus as a new name, indicating as basionym Centaurea sect. Palaeotypus Nyman and as type C. crassifolia Bertol. ; he provided also a new combination for the species, i.e., Palaeocyanus crassifolius . Later, Dostál (1975) published Palaeocyanus as a new genus, including a detailed description and reproposing the combination Palaeocyanus crassifolius (Bertol.) Dostál. In addition, he reported a lectotype for this species with the following label: “ insula Melita: in littoris meridionalis faucis Wued-Babu prope Hildzurik in rupibus calcareis 1874 leg. Janka ( K)”. However, this attempt of lectotypification is not correct. The collector Janka is indicated as “leg.” in the reference and the specimen is dated to 1874. In the protologue, Bertoloni (1829) does not mention Janka. Furthermore, the date reported is after the publication of Bertolini’s protologue. According to Stafleu & Cowan (1976), the Bertoloni’s types are currently found in the BOLO herbarium. During the World War II, Bertoloni’s herbarium and library were moved to Villa Salina to protect them in case of any attacks on Bologna. Unfortunately, the villa was later occupied by the German army and some soldiers used packets of plants as firewood during the winter, causing severe damage to the herbarium ( Duncan 1983). It is still unclear how many specimens were lost during the move. Although the entire Centaurea genus is still present in Antonio Bertoloni’s collections, the specimens of Centaurea crassifolia are among those lost during the Second World War and have never been found. (U. Mossetti, pers. comm.). As a result, it is not currently possible to trace the original material and establish a lectotype for the species. Based on the Arts. 9.8 and 9.13 of the ICN, a neotype may be chosen for a taxon if the holotype is absent and other original material is no longer available. It should be noted that C. crassifolia is a protected species in Malta, and it cannot be collected without authorisation, and for valid reasons. It is also classified as EN under the IUCN criteria ( Mifsud 2013). Therefore, we have chosen a sample that is already deposited in a herbarium as a neotype. Since Bertoloni’s protologue cites “Reperitur locis collinis ad mare in insula Melita” [It is found in hilly places by the sea in the island of Malta] as the locus classicus, any sample collected on the island of Malta can be chosen as a neotype, as no precise location is indicated. Unfortunately, exsiccata of this species are extremely rare in herbaria. According to our investigations, two samples are deposited at P ( P 02828203, P 02828204), while one is at MPU ( MPU 1056321). These collections examined online. In the ARG herbarium, a herbarium sheet of Centaurea crassifolia collected in the Wied Babu locality was found. It is part of the A. Caruana Gatto-Plantae Melitensis herbarium, and the label bearing the number 373 (collection personally viewed). However, in our opinion, this specimen cannot be considered as possible neotype as it is in very poor condition. Additionally, Brullo et al. (2020) collected and studied this species mainly from a phytosociological point of view. After personally examining these sheets herbarium, we found a good collection of specimens at CAT. We analysed the herbarium specimens and selected a complete sample deposited at CAT as a neotype, which is in accordance with the traditional concept and current application of the name ( Pignatti 2018).

Figures

FIG. 1. — Neotype of Centaurea crassifolia Bertol. at CAT (S. Brullo & G. Ronsisvalle 006836). Image from CAT with acknowledgement.