Amaranthus melancholicus var. parvifolius Moquin-Tandon (1849: 262)

Iamonico, Duilio, 2016, Nomenclature survey of the genus Amaranthus (Amaranthaceae). 5. Moquin-Tandon’s names, Phytotaxa 273 (2), pp. 81-114 : 101

27. Amaranthus melancholicus var. parvifolius Moquin-Tandon (1849: 262)

Type (lectotype here designated):— Indes, s.d., De La Roche s.n. (P00606398 [digital image!], image of the lectotype is available at http:// dsiphoto.mnhn.fr/sonnerat/LAPI/scanL/L20080303/P00606398.jpg).

= Amaranthus tricolor Linnaeus (1753: 989) . Type (lectotype designated by Townsend 1974: 14):—ASIA. Habitat in India, Herb. Linn. No. 1117.7 (LINN [digital image!], image of the lectotype is available at http://linnean-online.org/11633/).

Nomenclatural notes:— Moquin-Tandon (1849: 277−278) described this variety providing only a short dagnosis (“ foliis multo minoribus rhombeis ”). In the Moquin-Tandon’s Herbarium at P there is one specimen (barcode 00606398) bearing two pieces (synflorescences) of a probably same gathering (so the Art. 9.17 can be applied), and two original labels including the annotations “ Amaranthus tristis herb . F. De la Roche ”, and “ Amaranthus melancholicus var. δ parvifolius Prodr. 13, 2, p. 262. Indes ”. The plant shows the blades of the leaves shorter than the nominal taxon [1.0−2.0 cm long vs. about 12.0−20.0 cm (“ folia 5–8 poll. longa (incl. petiolo 2–3 lin.)], so matching with the diagnosis (“ β parvifolius…foliis multo minoribus ”). The specimen P00606399 is here designated as the lectotype of the name Amaranthus melancholicus var. parvifolius .

Taxonomical notes:— Am.melancholicus var. parvifolius shows the sexual parts with the following characteristics: synflorescence arranged in axillary glomerules, bracts ovate, awned as long as the perianth, female flower with 3 tepals ovato-lanceolate, with apex acute and mucronate. These features match with the current concept of Am. tricolor (see e.g., Akeroyd 1993, Mosyakin & Robertson 2003, Iamonico 2015). I here proposed the synonymization of the var. parvifolius with the broadly circumscribed Am. tricolor .