Euphorbia similis A.Berger, 1907

Figueiredo, Estrela & Smith, Gideon F., 2020, Typification of Euphorbia candelabrum (Euphorbiaceae) and associated names, Phytotaxa 447 (3), pp. 216-220 : 218

Typification of Euphorbia similis A.Berger

The type of the name Euphorbia similis is cited by Bruyns & Berry (2019: 837) as being ‘missing’. Berger (1907: 69) did not cite any material in the protologue of the name Euphorbia similis . However, an illustration of the plant was included in the work, as Figure 15 ( Berger 1907: 70). Brown (1912: 591) noted that the species was ‘described from a living plant long cultivated at Kew!’ In 1911 Brown annotated a specimen at K (specimen K000253385) with: ‘A branch of this was sent to Mr [Alwin] Berger for comparison with his type & confirmed by him as being the above species [ Euphorbia similis ]’. This indicates that a specimen (pressed or preserved in a liquid fixative?) might have been prepared by Berger. In the first decade of the 1900s Berger was based at the Hanbury Gardens, La Mortola, near Ventimiglia, Italy ( Smith & Figueiredo 2014). However, there is no specimen of E. similis kept at HMGBH (A. Guiggi, pers. comm.). Berger’s exsiccata of material he collected or cultivated, including at La Mortola, are held in several herbaria, including B, BH, BR, G, M, NY, and US (see https://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/tl-2/browse.cfm?vol=1#page/234). The photograph of Euphorbia similis ( Berger 1907: 70) is here designated as lectotype of the name as it represents original material.