Decalepidanthus moltkioides (Royle) Dickoré & Hilger 2015

Dickoré, W. Bernhard & Hilger, Hartmut H., 2015, Decalepidanthus (Boraginaceae) includes and antedates Pseudomertensia; a synopsis of the genus, Phytotaxa 226 (2), pp. 131-143 : 136-137

3. Decalepidanthus moltkioides (Royle) Dickoré & Hilger , comb. nov.

Basionym:— Anchusa moltkioides Royle (1835 : t. 73, fig. 1, see notes). ≡ Myosotis moltkioides (Royle) Royle (1836: 305 , see notes) ≡ Lithospermum moltkioides (Royle) Decne. in Jacquemont (1844: 122). ≡ Mertensia moltkioides (Royle) Clarke (1883: 170) . ≡ Pseudomertensia moltkioides (Royle) Kazmi (1970: 380) . Type:— INDIA. Jammu & Kashmir: Peer Punjal, J.F.Royle s.n. (holo LIV photo!, iso? PH photo!).

= Lithospermum ovalifolium Decne. in Jacquemont (1844: 119, t. 124). ≡ Pseudomertensia ovalifolium (Decne.) Bennet (1983: 591) . ≡ Eritrichium nemorosum A.DC. in Candolle (1846: 123) [non Eritrichium ovalifolium (Wall.) Candolle (1846: 123) ; see note]. ≡ Mertensia ovalifolia (Decne.) Brand in Engler (1931: 199) [non Mertensia ovalifolia (DC.) Brand in Engler (1931: 199) ≡ Trigonotis ovalifolia (Wall.) Benth. ex Clarke (1883: 172) ] ≡ Mertensia nemorosa (A.DC.) Johnston (1956: 305) ≡ Pseudomertensia nemorosa (A.DC.) R.R.Stewart & Kazmi in Kazmi (1970: 378). Type:— INDIA. Jammu & Kashmir: Frequens in humidis nemorum ad Ouri, 1467 m, 4. May 1831, V.Jacquemont 297 (holo P photo!, iso [‘Cachemyr’] P photo!, GH photo! [fragment of holo?]).

=? Mertensia moltkioides var. thomsonii Clarke (1883: 170) . Type?:— INDIA. Jammu & Kashmir: ‘ Mertensia sp. n. 3, Herb. Ind. Or. H. f. & T., Kashmir, near Islamabad’, 11000 ft., Thomson (K?; see below).

Icon.: — Royle (1835): t. 73, fig. 1a–h ( Anchusa moltkioides ); Nasir (1989b): fig. 33 D–E ( Pseudomertensia moltkioides var. leichtlinii ); fig. 33 I–L ( P. nemorosa ).

Distribution: —N Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Swat, Hazara), NW India (Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh): Outer Kashmir Himalaya.—Map 2.

Habitat: —Elevation (1520–)1950–3190(–3650) m, submontane–montane, apparently rare in northern Pakistan, perhaps more common in northwest India, in moist ravines and snow slides, scrub and forest ( Betula jacquemontii Spach , Corylus jacquemontii Decne. , Parrotiopsis jacquemontiana (Decne.) Rehder , Picea smithiana , Pinus wallichiana ).

Notes: —In transferring Lithospermum ovalifolium Decne. to Eritrichium, A.DC. in Candolle (1846: 123) coined the new name Eritrichium nemorosum . The epithet ovalifolium was not available because Candolle had already used it, above on the same page, for another combination based on Myosotis ovalifolia Wall. in Roxburgh (1824: 9). Unfortunately, Brand (1931: 199) transferred both identical epithets to Mertensia on the same page, first that based on Lithospermum ovalifolium Decne. , and only six lines later the one based on Myosotis ovalifolia Wall. On the basis of contemporary usage, Johnston (1956) discarded Brand’s combination of Lithospermum ovalifolium for his new combination of Mertensia nemorosa . However, Decaisne’s epithet would have been available for a combination in Pseudomertensia . Stewart & Kazmi (1970) did not take that into account and this was corrected by Bennet (1983).

In this nomenclatural tangle it seems fortunate that the accepted name can be based on Anchusa moltkioides Royle , and we propose Lithospermum ovalifolium to comprise a taxonomic synonym thereof. However, Royle’s illustration ( Royle 1835) with analysis of floral parts, thus validly published by Royle and not Bentham ( McNeill et al. 2012, ICN Art.. 38.8–9) and subsequent combination as Myosotis moltkioides ( Royle 1836: 305, McNeill et al. 2012, ICN Art. 46.2: Royle contributing author) are both somewhat ambiguous. Type material of Anchusa moltkioides (in LIV), however, seems unequivocal as to represent a taxon different from Eritrichium primuloides Decne. in Jacquemont (1844: 123), which previously was considered a synonym of an accepted taxon based on Anchusa moltkioides or Myosotis moltkioides . In consequence, and by successively adding other probably discordant elements, this apparently resulted in a very polymorphic “ Pseudomertensia moltkioides ”, in which Kazmi (1970) distinguished four varieties. We have here also excluded var. tanneri (= D. echioides ) and var. leichtlinii (= D. elongata ), while admitting that between either species, transitional or problematic specimens might occur, and hybridisation cannot be ruled out. Decalepidanthus moltkioides and D. primuloides remain critical and occasionally difficult to delimit. They seem to be largely parapatric, while their distributions apparently differentiate along complex altitudinal gradients and might partly overlap. The former is generally a more robust plant of lower elevations in the outer western Himalayas including the Kashmir basin. Incomplete herbarium material, especially from areas of potential spatial or elevational contact, can make it also difficult to distinguish D. moltkioides and D. racemosus . These species share the potentially retrorse indumentum, and might also approach each other in habit.We did not find type material directly referable to Mertensia moltkioides var. thomsonii . Clarke (1883 probably) intended this variety to accommodate relatively more robust specimens, while he already had separated his Mertensia tibetica for the diminutive high altitude plants (see under D. primuloides ). Apparently, none of Thomson’ s specimens from Kashmir at Kew is from the relatively high elevation (11,000 ft.) given in the protologue. Out of four similar, possible type specimens, the probably closest match for this name is: [ INDIA. Jammu & Kashmir] Kashmir [Avantipur, south of Srinagar], 5000–7000 ft., 4 May 1848, T.Thomson (K!). Another specimen was denoted as “ Mertensia moltkioides var. evolutior ”, which seems to be an unpublished name: INDIA. [Jammu & Kashmir: Udhampur, Bhadarwah to Padri P., 32°55’N 75°47’E], 5000–7000 ft., 3 June 1848, T. Thomson (K!). All these specimens correspond to the “typical” D. moltkioides .