Erythrina falcata Benth., in Martius, Fl. Bras. 15(1): 172. 1859

Guedes-Oliveira, Ramon, Fortuna-Perez, Ana Paula, Pederneiras, Leandro Cardoso & Mansano, Vidal de Freitas, 2023, Erythrina L. (Phaseoleae, Papilionoideae, Leguminosae) of Brazil: an updated nomenclatural treatment with notes on etymology and vernacular names, PhytoKeys 232, pp. 1-43 : 1

3. Erythrina falcata Benth., in Martius, Fl. Bras. 15(1): 172. 1859 nom. cons.

Fig. 3

≡ Corallodendron falcatum (Benth.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 172. 1891.

= Erythrina martii Colla, Herb. Pedem. 2: 250. 1834, nom. rej. Type: Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: "Campos [Campos dos Goytacazes?]", s.d., s.leg., s.n. (lectotype, designated by Moraes et al. 2013, pg. 200: TO [1793, image seen]). (1)

= Erythrina crista-galli L. var. inermis Speg. & Girola, Anal. Soc. Rural Argent. 44: 335. 1910. Type: Argentina. Misiones: Puerto León, s.d., Venturi 63 (lectotype, designated here: LIL [61285, image seen]; isotype: LP [presumably lost]). (2)

Type material.

Brazil. Maranhão: "in sylvis ad flumen Itapicurú prov. Maragnanensis", s.d., Martius s.n. (lectotype, designated by Krukoff 1938, pg. 233 [first-step]; and Martins and Tozzi 2018, pg. 399 [second-step]: M [M0213337]; isolectotypes: M [M0213336, M0213338]). Residual syntypes: Brazil. Bahia: "in campis prov. Bahiensis australis", s.d., Wied-Neuwied s.n., BR (BR0000006584023); Minas Gerais: "in prov. Minarum ad Caxoeira do Campo", 1839, Claussen 119, K (K000930965); "prope Barbacena", s.d., Saint-Hilaire 155 P (P00758901); 158, P (P00758955); 159, P (P00758954).

Notes.

Martius (1859) published E. falcata by Bentham mentioning four different collections from Brazil: one from the state of Maranhão (Martius s.n.), one from Bahia (Wied-Neuwied s.n.), and two from Minas Gerais (Claussen s.n. and Saint-Hilaire s.n.), but without mentioning any herbaria. Krukoff and Barneby (1974) accessed the collection by Martius in herbarium M and selected it as the type specimen. Because there are three different exsiccatae in the mentioned herbarium, Martins and Tozzi (2018) designated one of them as a second-step lectotype (Fig. 3 ). Despite not mentioning the herbaria of the other syntypes from Bahia and Minas Gerais, some collections are cited here with what was found in digital herbaria and believed to be the original ones. Kuntze (1891) published Corallodendron mentioning E. falcata as a synonym of C. falcatum , but the genus was later synonymized under Erythrina in Engler and Prantl (1894). Additional material: BR (BR0000013473808, photo n.v.), F (neg. 6301, negative of M0213337), IAN (IAN001758, photo of F neg. 6301), MO (MO-1680376, photo of F neg. 6301), P (P02951457, photo of M0213337).

(1) Colla (1834) published E. martii as a doubtful species from Brazil with a short description that resembles E. falcata , but without mentioning any collections. Krukoff (1938) already placed it as a doubtful synonym of E. falcata , but did not see the type specimen, which he believed could be at herbarium TO. Moraes et al. (2013), in a treatment of Brazilian plants distributed by Martius in 1827 and published by Colla in " Herbarium Pedemontanum " (Piedmont, Italy), confirmed the synonymy and designated a collection in herbarium TO, where the original material was deposited, as the lectotype of the name. We got access to an image of the TO collection and agree with the synonymy. Furthermore, as the name E. martii had priority over E. falcata due to its date of publication, as specified in Article 11 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018), Martins and Tozzi (2015) proposed to conserve E. falcata since it was a very well-established name for the species. The proposal was approved by the Nomenclature Committee for Vascular Plants of the ICN at the XIX International Botanical Congress ( Applequist 2016; Turland et al. 2017; Wilson 2017).

(2) Spegazzini and Girola (1910) published the variety E. crista-galli var. inermis , which was doubtfully synonymized under E. falcata by Krukoff (1938), who did not see the type specimen. The synonymy was later confirmed by Lozano and Zapater (2010). Furthermore, Gutiérrez et al. (2002) investigated the type collections by Spegazzini in herbarium LP and found that only wood samples were collected for some species. As those samples could not be found anywhere in the LP collections, the holotype for this name is presumably lost. The protologue also could not be found online, but we had access to an image of the isotype’s exsiccata at LIL and designated it here as the lectotype.

Etymology.

The specific epithet " Erythrina falcata " is derived from Latin, meaning “curved” or “sickle-shaped”, and was presumably chosen due to its corolla falcate shape, especially the standard and keel petals.

Vernacular names.

According to herbaria labels and Carvalho (2003), E. falcata is generally known as “mulungu” or “corticeira” in Brazil, and also “bico-de-papagaio”, “bico-de-pato”, “canivete”, “corticeiro-de-mato”, “marrequeira”, “mochoco” (and spelling variations), “moxoqueiro” (and spelling variations), “mulungu-coral”, “mutuqueiro” (and spelling variations), “pau-cebola”, “sanandú” (and spelling variations), “sananduí”, “sananduba” (and spelling variations), “sapato-de-judeu”, “suinã” (and spelling variations), “suinã-do-brejo” or “sumaúma” in the state of Minas Gerais; “bico-de-papagaio”, “canivete”, “coral”, “corticeira-ceboleiro”, “corticeira-da-serra”, “corticeiro-de-mato”, “marrequeira”, “mochoco” (and spelling variations), “mochoqueiro” (and spelling variations) or “letuíno” in Paraná; “canivete”, “mulungú tijolo", “mulungú suinã”, “sanandú” (and spelling variations) or “sanandú do brejo" in Rio de Janeiro; "bituqueiro (and spelling variations), “camarão-assado”, “ceibo”, “corticeira-da-serra” or “corticeira-do-mato” in Rio Grande do Sul; “bico-de-papagaio”, “bituqueira” (and spelling variations), “corticeira”, “corticeira-da-serra”, “facãozinho”, “mituqueira” (and spelling variations) or “sinhanduva” in Santa Catarina; and “bico-de-arara”, “bico-de-papagaio”, “canivete”, “corticeira”, “feijão-bravo”, “machoco” (and spelling variations), “mulungu-coral”, “mutuqueiro” (and spelling variations), “sapatinho-de-judeu”, “sanandu” (and spelling variations), “sananduí”, “sananduva” (and spelling variations), “suinã” (and spelling variations), “suinã-da-mata”, “suinã-da-serra”, “suinã-mulambo” or “vermelheira” in São Paulo.

Figures

Figure 3. Lectotype of Erythrina falcata Benth., in von Martius (1859: 172), designated by Krukoff (1938: 233, first-step) and Martins and Tozzi (2018: 399, second-step). Source: Botanische Staatssammlung Muenchen (M) via JSTOR Global Plants, M 0213337.