Orobanche ebuli Huter & Rigo

Domina, Gianniantonio, Scafidi, Filippo & Gargano, Maria Letizia, 2018, Typification of the name Orobanche ebuli Huter & Rigo (Orobanchaceae) and its taxonomic implications, Phytotaxa 344 (2), pp. 198-200 : 198

Orobanche ebuli Huter & Rigo in Huter (1907: 354)

Type (lectotype, here designated):— ITALY. G. Rigo: Iter Italicum quartum anni 1898 / curavit I. DÖRFLER / n. 596 / Orobanche ebuli Huter et Rigo / Aprutii. M. Morrone, in nemoribus parasitica / ad Sambucus Ebulus 15–1600 m s. m. / 25 aug. ( BOZ!).

Note:—We found two herbarium specimens, one in BOZ! and the other in NAP! belonging to the original material. Although these two specimens belong to the same series and have the same catalogue number “Iter Italicum quartum years 1898, No. 596”, they bear two different dates (25 August 1898 and 3 September 1898, respectively), and, therefore, belong to two distinct collections. In the protologue the collection date is not reported, both specimens were collected before the date of publication of the name and may be considered for lectotypification. The two specimens belong to the same taxon, completely agree with the protologue, and can be safely considered as original material (Art. 9.3 of the ICN, McNeill et al. 2012). The specimen conserved in BOZ is in a better state of preservation. For this reason we selected this specimen as the lectotype.

Taxonomic implications:— Beck von Mannagetta (1930) considers this species close to O. caryophyllacea Smith (1798: 169) . The different dorsal line of the corolla (with constant curvature in O. ebuli vs. with a distal gibbosity in O. caryophyllacea ) and the different shape of the calyx teeth (linear vs. triangular) allow a clear distinction between these two species. The occurrence of 5 teeth in the calyx of O. ebuli should not be stressed as a diagnostic character for the identification of this taxon, because the presence of organs with 5 elements in Orobanche is anything but uncommon and sometimes it appears also in individual populations ( Beck 1930, Domina & Danin 2014). Orobanche ebuli appear a well characterized taxon deserving the rank of species. Further investigations are needed to clarify its relationships with O. sambucina Janka (1884: 29) , a species described from E Europe also exclusive host of Sabucus ebulus .