Potamogeton natans L., 1753

Jarvis, Charlie, 2007, Chapter 7: Linnaean Plant Names and their Types (part P), Order out of Chaos. Linnaean Plant Types and their Types, London: Linnaean Society of London in association with the Natural History Museum, pp. 718-782 : 766

Potamogeton natans Linnaeus , Species Plantarum 1: 126. 1753 .

"Habitat in Europae lacubus & fluviis." RCN: 1034.

Lectotype (Dandy in Rechinger, Fl. Iranica 78: 3. 1971): Herb. Linn. No. 175.1 ( LINN) .

Generitype of Potamogeton Linnaeus (vide Hitchcock, Prop. Brit. Bot.: 127. 1929).

Current name: Potamogeton natans L. ( Potamogetonaceae ).

Note: Haynes (in Taxon 35: 564. 1986) provided a detailed study of Linnaeus’ sources and, concluding that 175.1 (LINN) came from Gmelin (and must therefore have come from Asia), rejected Dandy’s choice of it as type on the grounds of conflict with "Habitat in Europa" in favour of a Clifford sheet (BM). Gmelin is not explicitly mentioned in the protologue. However, based in St Petersburg, he sent Linnaeus specimens from places other than Siberia and the Russian Far East, and without further evidence, the grounds for rejecting Dandy’s type choice are weak. Sheet 175.1 (LINN) is therefore accepted as the lectotype. Both type choices, Dandy’s and Haynes’, correspond with usage so there are no nomenclatural implications.