Myrcia densa (De Candolle 1828: 257 ) Sobral (2006: 136)

Santos, Matheus F., Sano, Paulo T. & Lucas, Eve, 2016, Lectotypifications of some Nineteenth Century names and other nomenclatural updates in Myrcia s. l. (Myrtaceae), Phytotaxa 257 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

3. Myrcia densa (De Candolle 1828: 257) Sobral (2006: 136)

≡ Calyptranthes densa DC. Aulomyrcia densa (DC.) O. Berg (1855 –1856: 37). Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais, 1817 (fr.), Martius 144 (lectotype M [M-0136871]! designated here, isolectotypes G-DC!, M [M-0136872]!). Figure 4 .

= Aulomyrcia supraaxillaris O. Berg (1857 –1859: 69). Myrcia jacobinensis Mattos (1966: 60) , syn. nov. Type:— BRAZIL. Bahia: Jacobina (“Bras., Jacobina” on label), 1841 (fl.), Blanchet 3368 (lectotype W [0040178]! designated here, isolectotypes BM!, C!, F!, G!, HAL [image!], LE!, MICH!, NY!, P!). Figure 5 .

Calyptranthes densa :— Sobral (2006) published the combination Myrcia densa and considered the material housed in the Botanische Staatssammlung München herbarium (M) to be a type. Sobral (2006) justified his choice by the morphology, which is congruent with the protologue and De Candolle’s annotation (“ C. densa ”) on the sheet. However,

Sobral (2006) did not explicitly designate the specimen as lectotype and did not cite the sheet of C. densa at the Herbier de Candolle (G-DC). The typification of Calyptranthes densa is clarified here.

The protologue of C. densa cites “v. s. in h. Mart.”, referring to Martius’ herbarium, whose collections from Brazil are mainly housed in the M herbarium ( Stafleu & Cowan 1981). Two sheets of C. densa collected by Martius are at M, one of them bearing De Candolle’s handwriting (“ Calyptranthes densa prod.”).

The G-DC herbarium houses the reference collection of the Prodromus (De Candolle 1828, Stafleu & Cowan 1976). Among these materials, a specimen of C. densa also bears the De Candolle’s annotation on the label (“ Calyptranthes densa DC. ”). The specimen at G-DC is incomplete, composed only of two short twigs with an infrutescence, as well as loose leaves and fruits; it was probably extracted from the collection at M. The sheets at M are more complete and represent the morphology of the species better. From material at M, the specimen with De Candolle’s handwriting was chosen as the lectotype (the same specimen previously cited by Sobral 2006; Figure 4 ).

A photo identified as a B specimen of the type material of C. densa is present in herbaria at the University of Michigan ( MICH) and New York Botanical Garden ( NY) ; in fact this is of one of the M duplicates. Regarding the type locality, the material at M has “Minas” written on the label referring to Minas Gerais state in Brazil ; this is congruent with the distribution of M. densa and Martius’ route in Brazil ( Urban 1906), but is otherwise too vague to discern the exact type locality .

Aulomyrcia supraaxillaris :—Analysis of the type collections of Calyptranthes densa and Aulomyrcia supraaxillaris alongside other material from herbarium collections and the field, showed that the two names are synonymous. Both species share diagnostic characters within clade 7 such as monopodial branching, keeled twigs, inconspicuous venation and inflorescences branching only once or twice at the base. The type material of A. supraaxillaris , collected from the Jacobina region (the type locality is discussed below) has wider leaves and thicker branches and inflorescences than average in the species. However, these differences are minor and not enough to recognize a different species.

In the protologue of A. supraaxillaris, Berg (1857 –1859) cites the collection Blanchet 3368 at the B and Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (W) herbaria (“v. in hb. Berol. et Vindob.”). As the material at B has been destroyed, material at W was selected as the lectotype of A. supraaxillaris ( Figure 5 ). Material at W also has Berg’s handwriting on the label (“ Aulomyrcia supraaxillaris Bg ”), as does a specimen at Martin-Luther-Universität herbarium (HAL). Mattos (1966) cited an isotype at the herbarium of the Embrapa Amazônia Oriental (IAN) but no type collection was found during a visit to that herbarium.

The locality mentioned on some labels and in the protologue (“Jacobina”, i.e., the municipality of Jacobina, Bahia state, Brazil) is congruent with the species distribution and with the regions explored by Blanchet or his collaborators ( Urban 1906). Jacobina is therefore considered the type locality of A. supraaxillaris .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Lectotype of Calyptranthes densa De Candolle (Martius 144, M [M-0136871]). Image used with permission and provided by the Botanische Staatssammlung München.

FIGURE 5. Lectotype of Aulomyrcia supraaxillaris O.Berg (Blanchet 3368, W [accession number 0040178]). Image used with permission and provided by the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien.