Celosia argentea, Linnaeus, 1753

Iamonico, Duilio, 2013, About the circumscription of Celosia argentea (Amaranthaceae) and the related Linnaean taxa, Phytotaxa 90 (1), pp. 61-64 : 62

Celosia argentea L. var. margaritacea (L.) Iamonico, comb. et stat. nov.

Celosia margaritacea Linnaeus (1762: 297) . Lectotype (designated by Iamonico & Jarvis 2012):—ORIGIN UNKNOWN “ Habitat in America ”, Herb. Linnaeanum no. 288.2 (LINN!).

Celosia castrensis was first published by Linnaeus in 1762. The diagnosis is followed by four synonyms, of which one [that from Matthioli et al. (1586) “ Amaranthus cristatus ”] had been previously been cited by Linnaeus (1753: 205) under C. cristata (as an unnamed variety β “ Amaranthus cristatus ”). Obviously, the author changed his concept of the species. Linnaeus had indeed a broad concept of C. cristata in 1753. A third species was in fact described by Linnaeus in the second edition of Species Plantarum (1762): C. coccinea Linnaeus (1762: 297). The name was lectotypified by Townsend (1994: 4) on the specimen No. 288.6 (LINN). The sheet bears the original annotation “ 2 coccinea ”, where the number “ 2 ” is the species number in Linnaeus’ 1753 treatment of Celosia (under C. cristata ) while “ coccinea ” was presumably added before 1762. The three taxa appear to be very similar from the morphological point of view, being characterized in having cristate inflorescences and ovate-lanceolate leaves. In particular, C. castrensis differs from C. cristata in having linear stipules. The recognition of C. castrensis is here at variety rank [(the name C. cristata has priority according to Art. 11.4 of the ICN ( McNeill et al. 2012)].