Acalypha muelleriana Urban (1899: 338)

Muñoz-Rodríguez, Pablo, Cardiel, José María & Atha, Daniel, 2014, Acalypha subgenus Linostachys (Euphorbiaceae, Acalyphoideae): a global review, Phytotaxa 166 (3), pp. 199-221 : 210

18. Acalypha muelleriana Urban (1899: 338) . ≡ Linostachys urticifolia Klotzsch ex Schlechtendal (1846: 235) .

Lectotype (designated here):― VENEZUELA. Carabobo: Puerto Cabello, without date, H. Karsten 127 ( HAL!,

isolectotype B [destroyed, negative F 5302!]).

= Acalypha colombiana Cardiel (1990: 21) , syn. nov. Type:― COLOMBIA. Meta: Sierra de la Macarena, caño Entrada, 500 m, 22 December 1949, W. R. Phillipson & J. M. Idrobo 1864 (holotype COL!, isotypes: BM!, US!) .

Distribution:— America. Central America: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama; Northern South America: Venezuela; Western South America: Colombia.

Voucher:— VENEZUELA: Miranda, Puente de Turumo , road from Petare to Guatiare, 30 January 1924, H . Pittier 11414 ( G, K, NY, US).

References:— Pax & Hoffmann (1924: 18), Pittier et al. (1947: 80), Seymour (1979: 165), Cardiel (1994: 204, 1995a: 42, 1995b: 183, 1999a: 266), Govaerts et al. (2000: 77), Murillo (2004: 187), Levin (2008: 366).

Notes:— The lectotype (H. Karsten 127) was first described as Linostachys urticifolia , a legitimate name in Linostachys but illegitimate in Acalypha , being blocked by Acalypha urticifolia Poiret (1804: 208) . Müller Argoviensis (1866) synonymized Schlechtendal’s species under Acalypha bisetosa Bertero ex Sprengel (1826: 879) , a Puerto Rican species now excluded from subgenus Linostachys . Urban (1899) recognized that the Puerto Rican and theVenezuelan materials were distinct, and proposed Acalypha mulleriana as a nomen novum for the latter. We therefore consider that Linostachys urticifolia should be treated as the basionim of Acalypha muelleriana . After a thorough study of the Colombian collections, we did not find sufficient difference to maintain A. colombiana as a different species. Accordingly, we propose to treat it as a synonym of A. mulleriana .