Scleria boivinii Steudel (1855:173)

Schneider, Layla Jamylle Costa, Simões, André Olmos, Dias, Ana Cristina Andrade De Aguiar & Gil, André Dos Santos Bragança, 2023, Typifications in Scleria subgenus Scleria section Hymenolytrum (Cyperaceae), Phytotaxa 606 (3), pp. 170-184 : 171

Scleria boivinii Steudel (1855:173) .

Lectotype (designated here):— MADAGASCAR. Sta. Maria: s.d., fl. and fr., Boivin 1643 ( P [00346034 photo!] [ Fig.1 ]; isolectotypes K [000363353]!, MO [2302303] photo!, P [00346035] photo!, P [00346036] photo! and P [04021507] photo!).

Steudel (1855) described Scleria boivinii as an erect herb with apterous leaf sheaths, the presence of a membranous appendage in the apex of the contraligule, leaf blades thin, strongly retrorsely scabrous, inflorescence paniculate and lax with numerous staminate and sparsely pistillate spikelets inserted at the base of the branches, fruits ovoid, smooth, shiny and white, and hypogynium slender, entire, undulate. That same author cited a collection in Boivin’s herbarium (number 1643) from the island of Santa Maria , Madagascar. Boivin’s main collections are currently in herbarium P ( Stafleu & Cowan 1976). When searching for the collection cited by Steudel (1855), six specimens were found in the P, K and MO herbaria with the same collection number (1643) cited in the protologue of S. boivinii , which has no clear indication of the holotype, making them syntypes ( Turland et al. 2018). The specimens present in P have typification labels, with “P 04021507 ” having a “type” label and the remaining specimens having an “isotype” label. In a review of Scleria from Madagascar, Díaz et al. (2019) elected “P 04021507 ” as the lectotype of S. boivinii , but did not validate the typification (as they omitted the term “designated here” or any equivalent) ( Turland et al., 2018). In such a situation, lectotypification is still required and fundamental for the stability of the name. The specimen “P 04021507 ”, elected by Díaz et al. (2019), does not present fruits, which are essential elements for the taxonomic diagnosis of Scleria . We therefore designate here the specimen “P00346034”, which has flowers and fruits, as the lectotype for a better application of the name and a better correspondence with the protologue of S. boivinii .

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lectotype of Scleria boivinii Steud.(Boivin 1643, P [00346034]). Image:Herbarium P, Muséum National d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN, France).