Silene quadrifida (L.) L., 1759

Jarvis, Charlie, 2007, Chapter 7: Linnaean Plant Names and their Types (part C), Order out of Chaos. Linnaean Plant Types and their Types, London: Linnaean Society of London in association with the Natural History Museum, pp. 370-473 : 463

Cucubalus quadrifidus Linnaeus , Species Plantarum 1: 415. 1753 .

"Habitat in Styriae monte ad oppidum Eisenertz." RCN: 3268.

Basionym of: Silene quadrifida (L.) L. (1759) ; Lychnis quadridentata L. (1774) , nom. illeg.

Lectotype (Melzheimer & Polatschek in Phyton (Horn) 31: 285. 1992): [icon] " Caryophyllus minimus humilis alter exoticus flore candido amoeno " in Plantin, Pl. Stirp. Icon.: 445. 1581.

Current name: Silene quadrifida (L.) L. ( Caryophyllaceae ).

Note: Juel (in Nova Acta Reg. Soc. Sci. Upsal., Ser. IV, 5(7): 72-73. 1923) provided an extensive discussion around the name, and particularly the Burser material, which was evidently the source of Linnaeus’ "Habitat in Styriae monte ad oppidum Eisenertz". However, he does not appear to refer to the Burser material as the type. Walters (in Feddes Repert. 69: 47. 1964) stated that Dandy had advised him that the (unspecified) type of C. quadrifidus was identifiable as S. alpestris Jacq., and Walters therefore recommended that C. quadrifidus be rejected as a nomen ambiguum. Rauschert (in Feddes Repert. 79: 415. 1969) also discussed the name, though apparently without indicating a type himself.

However, Melzheimer & Polatschek (in Phyton (Horn) 31: 284. 1992) subsequently used the name S. quadrifidus (L.) L. in the sense of S. alpestris , having formally chosen the cited Plantin plate as a neotype. As the plate was cited by Linnaeus, it is in fact a lectotype (treated as a correctable error under Art. 9.8).