The botanical legacy of Martinus Houttuyn (1720 - 1798) in Geneva
Author
Wijnands, Dirk Onno
Author
Heniger, Johannes
Author
Veldkamp, Jan Frederik
Author
Fumeaux, Nicolas
Author
Callmander, Martin W.
text
Candollea
2017
2017-05-12
72
1
155
198
journal article
20627
10.15553/c2017v721a11
ae864518-b1d7-49da-85dc-905b1a4e6809
2235-3658
5721887
4.
Aira arundinacea
sensu Houtt.,
Nat. Hist. II(13): Aanwyz. Plaat. [2], 229, tab. 91, fig. 1. 1782 [non
A. arundinacea
L.
].
=
Panicum bisulcatum
Thunb.
in Nova Acta Regiae Soc. Sci. Upsal. 7: 141. 1815
.
Lectotypus
(designated here by Veldkamp & Callmander):
JAPAN
:
Thunberg s.n.
(
UPS-THUNB
n° 1817 image seen;
isolecto-
:
G-PREL
[
G00818157
]!, UPS-THUNB n° 1818 image seen).
Notes
. – Houttuyn’s text here is rather complicated and one may have trouble interpreting what exactly he was trying to convey. We have concluded that in
Aanwyz. Plaat.
he did not propose
Aira arundinacea
as a name for the “Japansch Rietgras”, but that plate 91 with an illustration of the latter had to be placed opposite (“tegenover”, Aanwyz. Plaat. [2]) or next to (“nevens”, Nat. Hist. II(13): 229. 1782) the citation of
A. arundinacea
(“aangehaald”, Aanwyz. Plaat. [1]).
Houttuyn discussed on pp. 229-230 three species under the heading
Aira arundinacea
. The first is the Linnaean one from the Near East, the “Levantsch”, now
Eragrostis collina
Trin. Linnaeus
, cited by Houttuyn, gave the phrase name “
AIRA
panicula oblonga secunda mutica imbricata, foliis planis”, suggesting that he had seen more than just Tournefort’s phrase name “Gramen orientale paniculatum, portulacea semine”, where these characters are not mentioned. However, there is no specimen present in the Linnaean herbarium and he could never have seen that of Tournefort. In the absence of further data, there was little that Houttuyn could have added.
The second “Rietgras”, “Indisch”, is mentioned in a sentence that is grammatically incorrect. It would seem that it should have begun with something like “Voor” [in place of]. The species clearly is
Aira indica
L., with a somewhat complicated nomenclatural history, which is beyond the present discussion. Houttuyn said he had transferred it to the “Trosachtig of Gekropte Panikgras”,
i.e.
Panicum conglomeratum
L., “Trosachtig [panikgras]” found in Nat. Hist. II(13): 178. 1782. This is now known as
Sacciolepis indica
(L.)
Chase. Instead, Houttuyn replaced the latter by a very beautiful “Japansch Rietgras”, which he said had much similarity in growth with the “Levantsch”, according to the diagnosis (“bepaling”). A description of his own Thunberg specimen in the
Japan
herbarium in G-PREL [G00818157] follows. No combination is proposed for it here.
In the Thunberg herbarium, there are two duplicates (UPS- THUNB n° 1817 and 1818) on which Thunberg based his
Panicum bisulcatum
and from which the
lectotype
has been selected.