Acalypha gracilipes Baill., Adansonia 1: 273. 1861.

Munoz, Iris Montero, Cardiel, Jose Maria & Levin, Geoffrey A., 2018, Nomenclatural review of Acalypha (Euphorbiaceae) of the Western Indian Ocean Region (Madagascar, the Comoros Archipelago, the Mascarene Islands and the Seychelles Archipelago), PhytoKeys 108, pp. 85-116 : 85

12. Acalypha gracilipes Baill., Adansonia 1: 273. 1861.

Acalypha commersoniana var. gracilipes (Baill.) Müll.Arg., Prodr. 15(2): 850. 1866. Acalypha integrifolia var. gracilipes (Baill.) Pax & K.Hoffm., Pflanzenr. 147,16 (Heft 85): 106. 1924.

Type.

Madagascar: s.l., s.d., P. Commerson s.n. (holotype: P [P04022747]!).

Acalypha reticulata var. cloiselana Leandri, Notul. Syst. (Paris) 10: 266. 1942. Type: Madagascar: s.l., s.d., P. Commerson s.n. (lectotype, designated here: P [P00513166]!, syn. nov.).

Syntypes. Madagascar. Prov. Toamasina: Fénérive, H. Perrier de la Bâthie 9707 [P00513169]!; Madagascar. Prov. Toliara: Fort Dauphin, J. Cloisel 156 P [P00513165]!; Madagascar. Prov. Toliara: Forêt de Manantantely, H. Humbert 5835 P [P00513167]!, P [P00513168]!; Madagascar. Prov. Toliara: Fort Dauphin, G. F. Scott-Elliot 2493 P [P00513171]!; Madagascar: s.l., s.d., R. Baron 5980 P [P00513164]!; R. Baron 6420 [P00324562]!.

Acalypha cloiselana Denis ex Leandri, Notul. Syst. (Paris) 10: 266. 1942 nom. nud. as synonym of A. reticulata var. cloiselana Leandri.

Acalypha commersonii Baill. ex Leandri, Notul. Syst. (Paris) 10: 266. 1942 nom. nud. as synonym of A. reticulata var. cloiselana Leandri.

Distribution.

Madagascar (Antsiranana, Fianarantsoa, Toamasina, Toliara).

References.

Müller Argoviensis (1866: 850) as A. commersoniana var. gracilipes ; Baillon (1892: 1004); Palacký (1907: 25); Pax and Hoffmann (1924: 106) as A. integrifolia var. gracilipes ; Govaerts et al. (2000: 69, 100).

Notes.

Acalypha gracilipes has been usually treated as a variety of A. integrifolia Willd., which is endemic of Mascarene Islands, but A. gracilipes can be clearly distinguished by its elliptic-lanceolate leaves, denticulate female bracts and glabrous and glandular ovaries, vs. linear-lanceolate leaves, entire female bracts and hispidulous and echinate ovary in A. integrifolia .

A. gracilipes can be distinguished from both A. urophylla Boivin ex Baill. and A. paxii Aug.D.C. mainly by its glabrous leaves with crenate to subdentate margins and obtuse to subacute apices, glabrous female bracts and glabrous ovaries with minute sessile glands, vs. pubescent leaves with serrate margins and acuminate ( A. urophylla ) or usually caudate ( A. paxii ) apices, pubescent female bracts and hispidulous ovaries with long papillae. In addition, the female bracts of A. paxii have a prominent central tooth, which is absent in both A. gracilipes and A. urophylla .

Leandri (1942) included the collection H. Perrier de la Bâthie 9746 as Acalypha reticulata var. cloiselana Leandri, however the specimen of this collection in P (P00513170) corresponds to A. urophylla .