Augustea anomala (Hassl.) Iamonico, 2015

Iamonico, Duilio, 2015, Augustea (Polycarpaeae, Caryophyllaceae), a new genus from South America, Phytotaxa 236 (1), pp. 71-78 : 76-77

Augustea anomala (Hassl.) Iamonico , comb. nov.

Basyonym: Polycarpon anomalum Hassler (1907: 12 − 13) .

Type :— PARAGUAY. Loma Clavel , November 1903, Rojas 2481 (lectotype, designated here: G-138549/15!, http://www.ville-ge.ch/ musinfo/bd/cjb/chg/adetail.php?id=128010&base=img&lang=en) ; isolectotypes: G-138549/13!, G-138549!/14, G-138549/16!, http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/chg/advanced.php?lang=en; MICH-1192946!, http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/imageidx?xc=1;page=searchgroup;g=herb-ic; NY-00342596!, http://sweetgum.nybg.org/vh/specimen.php?irn=697871; P-04925768!, http://sonneratphoto.mnhn.fr/ 2012/06/15 /1/ P04925768 .jpg ).

Description: ―Shrubs (chamaephyte) up to 50 cm tall, woody at the base, branched, branches usually finely ridged. Leaves in whorls of 4 (sometimes 6), sessile, lanceolate to lanceolate-linear, 3.5 − 4.0 × 15.0 − 40.0 mm, apex acute, base cuneate, glabrous to glabrescent. Inflorescence terminal, dichotomous cymes, 4(− 6)-branched; bracts ovate, scarious. Flowers subsessile; sepals 5, ovate, (1.6 −)1.9 − 2.5(− 2.8) mm long, obtuse or acute, 1-nerved, keeled, hyaline on margins; petals 5, ovate, 1.3 − 1.5(− 2.0) mm long, shorter than sepals, usually obtuse, entire, white; stamens 3, perigynous; style 1, stigma 1. Fruits (capsule) ovoid, 2.0 − 2.7(− 3.0) × (3.0 −) 4.5 − 5.5 mm, longer than the calyx, opening by non-involute valves; seeds 20 − 30, ovoid-fusiform, nearly smooth on the surface or slightly reticulate, brown.

Phenology:— Flowering October to April.

Habitat:— Human-made habitats, 50– 60 m.

Distribution: ―Endemic to southern Paraguay.

Notes:— Hassler (1907: 12 − 13) described Polycarpon anomalum mainly on the basis of a single character, the occurrence of an elongate style with one stigma. A long and detailed diagnosis, provenance (“ Loma Clavel, Gran Chaco, Paraguay ”), collector (“ T. Rojas ”) and specimen number (“ 2481 ”) were provided. We found seven specimens, G (four, 138549/13 − 16), MICH (1192946), NY (00342596), and P (04925768), collected by Rojas at Loma Clavel in 1903 (all specimens labels include the original number 2481). These sheets are to be considered syntypes (art. 9.5). The morphological characteristics match Hassler’s diagnosis. We here designate G-138549/15 as the lectotype of the name Polycarpon anomalum . The other sheets are isolectotypes.

Although some authors (e.g. The Plant List2010, Egea et al. 2012) synonymized P.anomalum with P.suffruticosum , we prefer to maintain the Hassler’s taxon as separate species due to its possession of 1 stigma versus 3.