Kalanchoe kirkii Brown (1902b: 110)

Smith, Gideon F., 2023, A nomenclatural and taxonomic review of the names and new combination published between 1886 and 1931 in Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae subfam. Kalanchooideae) by British botanist Nicholas Edward Brown (1849 - 1934), Phytotaxa 630 (4), pp. 266-280 : 271

3. Kalanchoe kirkii Brown (1902b: 110) .

Type:—[“Some part of AFRICA”], without more precise locality information, introduced [to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew] by the “Hon. H. W. Fitzwilliam of Wentworth, Woodhouse, Rotherham, in 1893”, specimen prepared on 19 April 1901, presumably as N.E. Brown s.n. (lectotype, K barcode K000739531 [image available at http://specimens.kew. org/herbarium/K000739531]!), here designated.

Taxonomic notes:—At present the name K. kirkii is treated as a synonym of K. lateritia Engler (1894: 19) (see also Engler 1895: 189) ( Fig. 1D ).

Nomenclatural notes:— Wickens (1987: 46) lists a “Fitzwilliam” specimen held at Herb. K as the “holo”. However, Brown (1902b: 110–111) did not cite any material when he described the species, and there is no indication that Brown (1902b: 110) used only the lectotype designated here, N.E. Brown s.n., barcode K000739531, when publishing the name (Turland et al. 2028: Art. 9.1(b )). The name K. kirkii therefore does not have a holotype. The sentiment that the name K. kirkii has a “ holotype ” was echoed on a determinavit label attached to the Herb. K specimen, K000739531, but this action has no standing ( Turland et al. 2018: Art. 7.10) and is not correct.

Since the Herb. K specimen, K000739531, was distinctly not prepared by Fitzwilliam, who rather is credited as having introduced the material to Kew from “[s]ome part of Africa” in 1893, eight years before the specimen was prepared, and to prevent further confusion, the name K. kirkii is here lectotypified on N.E. Brown s.n., barcode K000739531, which may or may not have been the specimen Wickens (1987: 46) had in mind.

Spirit material of K. kirkii also exists at Herb. K, databased at http://specimens.kew.org/herbarium/12169.000, but an image of the material is not accessible online.

Fernandes (1983: 49) only stated that the type is “[…] a cultivated plant at Kew Garden […]”, which was not an effective typification.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A–B. Two Kew botanists appointed in the 1860s and 1870s, in sequence: A. John Gilbert Baker (1834–1920) and B. Nicholas Edward Brown (1849–1934). C–G. A selection of species described in Kalanchoe by N.E. Brown. Where necessary, the nomenclature reflects the currently accepted names of the taxa. C. Kalanchoe ×kewensis N.E.Br., non K. ×kewensis W.Watson, an illegitimate homonym (see text for a discussion). D. Kalanchoe lateritia is the accepted name of K. kirkii. E. Kalanchoe lanceolata is the accepted name of both K. diversa and K. ellacombei. F. Kalanchoe prasina is an accepted species. G. Kalanchoe sexangularis is an accepted species. H. Elise [Eliza] Keller (1869–1944), the wife of the botanist Alwin Berger (1871–1931), is commemorated in K. elizae, the currently accepted name of K. insignis. Kalanchoe elizae was the first name published in Kalanchoe to honour a woman. The name was published in January 1903 by Berger, four months before he and Keller got married. The photograph reproduced here was taken in 1935 while Elise was visiting her son, Fritz, in Pasadena, U.S.A. Photograph credits: A. Photographer unknown. Public Domain. http://www.plantillustrations. org/illustration.php?id_illustration=176522. B. Photographer unknown. Public Domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._E._Brown#/ media/File:NEBrown04.jpg. C–G. All photographs taken by Gideon F. Smith. H. Photographer unknown; © of and reproduced with the permission, through Lutz Schmalfuss, of the Alwin-Berger-Archivs, Bürgerverein Möschlitz e.V., Germany.