Lomandra longifolia Labill.

Wang, Jian, 2024, Lectotypification of the name Lomandra longifolia Labill. (Asparagaceae: Lomandroideae), Adansonia (3) 46 (5), pp. 37-40 : 38

Lomandra longifolia Labill.

Novae Hollandiae Plantarum 1: 92, t. 119 ( Labillardière 1805). — Xerotes longifolia (Labill.) R.Br. , Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae van-Diemen: 262 ( Brown 1810).

TYPE MATERIAL. — Tasmania • In capite Van-Diemen ; 21.IV.1792 - 27.II.1793; Labillardière J. J. H. s.n.; lecto-, FI [ FI012018 !, Fig. 1 ), here designated; isolecto-, FI [ FI012019 !], BM [ BM000990572 !], GH [ GH00029949 !, 2 fruiting inflorescences and 3 separated leaves on the left], MO [ MO-277683 !], P [ P00675169 , P01843952 , P01843953 ]!).

TYPIFICATION

It is now evident that Labillardière collections of Lomandra longifolia are held by BM, FI, GH, MO and P. Of all these collections, FI012018 was the only one with five labels, bearing a detailed handwritten description that matches the species description in the protologue by Labillardière (1805). The plant in the middle of image ( Fig. 1 ), with not only mature fruits but also roots, is of satisfactory quality to be chosen as the lectotype. The annotation attached in the middle lower part of the same image ( Fig. 1 ) translates to “ Lomandra cultivated in a [botanic] garden under the name Longifolia”, indicating the fruits and seeds available in the envelope. The handwriting was probably by Labillardière and was added at a later stage.

Labillardière visited Tasmania on two occasions: from the 21 st April to the 28th May 1792 and from the 21 st January to the 27th February 1793 ( Kantvilas 2007). He collected c. 5 000 specimens comprising 30 genera, about 100 new species during the first visit and similar numbers achieved during the second visit. Because the two periods were close, there were problems discerning which species were collected during its sojourn ( Duyker 2003). Therefore, it is almost impossible to figure out the exact collection date for many species including L. longifolia .

The specimen stored at BR ( BR 0000013344702) with a pencil annotation as a “possible isotypus ” is not considered to be an isolectotype, mainly because it may not have been collected by Labillardière. As a part of the collection of Martin Martens, a Belgian chemist and botanist, this specimen was donated to BR by his great grandchild Pierre Martens. It is unknown how this specimen became part of the collection of Martin Martens. However, the collection of Martin Martens was probably established after he was appointed the director of Louvain Botanical Garden in 1848 ( Wisniak 2019), 43 years after Lomandra longifolia was published. The annotation of both “ Xerotes longifolia R.Br. ” and “ Lomandra longifolia Labill. ” on the possible original identification slip in the lower left side does not appear to match Labillardière’s handwriting (https://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/auxilium/). It is unlikely that the name published by Brown (1810) would have been included unless the material was collected and/or distributed after that date.

Figures

FIG. 1. — Lectotype specimen of Lomandra longifolia Labill. in the Herbarium Universitatis Florentinae (FI012018). Image from JSTOR Global Plants and © SMA, Museo di Storia Naturale, Collezioni Botaniche, Florence with acknowledgements.