Amaranthus hybridus var. bellardii Moquin-Tandon (1849: 259)

Iamonico, Duilio, 2016, Nomenclature survey of the genus Amaranthus (Amaranthaceae). 5. Moquin-Tandon’s names, Phytotaxa 273 (2), pp. 81-114 : 97-98

18. Amaranthus hybridus var. bellardii Moquin-Tandon (1849: 259)

Type (lectotype here designated):— FRANCE. Hort. Tolos., 17 September 1844, s. coll . s.n. (P04021949 [digital image!], image of the lectotype is available at http://mediaphoto.mnhn.fr/media/1449489974692vdtOaEBnTk4qsuA7).

= Amaranthus hybridus Linnaeus (1753: 990) .

Type (lectotype designated by Townsend 1974: 19):— U.S.A. Habitat in Virginia, Herb. Linn. No. 1117.19 (LINN [digital image!], image available at http://linnean-online.org/11645/).

Nomenclatural notes:— Moquin-Tandon (1849: 259) proposed six varieties under Am. hybridus , of which three ( var. bellardii , var. erythrostachys , and var. prostratus ) are new for science. These varieties would distinguish on the basis of habitus, stem color, leaf shape, and synflorescence structure and color. According to the short diagnosis, the var. bellardii would refer to a plant with green stem, lanceolate and petioled leaves, lax and green-yellowish synflorecences. Moquin-Tandon also indicated some collections (“ Amaranthus Bellardi ! in hort. Lugd. A. aureus , flavescens, Nepalensis , neglectus, hortor.”),which are to be considered as syntypes (Art. 9.5 of the ICN). One of these specimens is preserved at P (barcode 04021949) and it bears two terminal synflorescences, which are probably part of the same plant, and the label “ Amaranthus hybridus Linn. | var. δ Bellardi Prodr. 13, 2 p. 259 (a. Bellardi hort. Lugd. | Amaranthus aureus hort . Tol. | Hort. Tol. | 1844 Sept. 17 ”. The two pieces perfectly match the diagnosis and the P 04021949 is here designated as the lectotype of the name Amaranthus hybridus var. bellardii .

Taxonomical notes:—Important characters of the lectotype are the next: bracts 1.5‒2.0 longer than the perianth, flowers with 5 tepals with acute apex, fruits shorter than the tepals. This configuration matches with that of Am. hybridus as it has been currently recognized (see e.g., Carretero 1990, Mosyakin & Robertson 2003). The diagnostic characters as proposed by Moquin-Tandon (l.c.) have a low diagnostic value in Amaranthus sect. Amaranthus sensu Mosyakin & Robertson 1996 (see e.g., Iamonico 2015) and no infraspecific taxa can be recognized for Am. hybridus at the being time. As a consequence, I here propose to make as heterotypic synonyms the name Amaranthus hybridus var. bellardi and Am. hybridus .