(2790) Proposal to reject the name Lippia riedeliana (Verbenaceae)

Abstract

(2790) Lippia riedeliana Schauer in Candolle, Prodr. 11: 582. 25 Nov 1847 [Angiosp.: Verben.], nom. utique rej. prop. Lectotypus (hic designatus): [Brazil, Minas Gerais], “In locis arenosis et glareosis prope Tejuco, prov. Minarum”, Dec 1824, Riedel 1228 (LE barcode LE00018189; isolectotypi: LE barcodes LE00018186, LE00018187, LE00018188 & LE00018190). The name Lippia riedeliana was established by Schauer in Candolle (Prodr. 11: 582. 1847), based on a specimen collected by Ludwig Riedel s.n. in Brazil and cited as: “In locis arenosis et glareosis, prov. S. Pauli Brasiliae (Riedel!) […] (v. s. in h. caes. petrop.).” However, Schauer in Martius (Fl. Bras. 9: 234. 1851) corrected the information about the locality of the type specimen from “prov. S. Pauli” to “prov. Minarum”, as follows: “in locis arenosis et glareosis prope Tejuco, prov. Minarum, Decembri […].” Tejuco is the oldest name of a city nowadays called Diamantina located in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Although Lippia riedeliana was described in detail, its identity has stayed obscure since its publication. Because of this, the name L. riedeliana was ignored by subsequent authors, and the only authors that treated this taxon in taxonomic papers, after the original publication, were Schauer in Flora Brasiliensis (l.c.) and Moldenke (in Phytologia 12: 439. 1965). This latter author commented that: “I know nothing whatever of this species except what is given in the literature” and, additionally, reported that the type was at LE, but evidently had not examined it. The only other use of the name that we have traced was by Hayek (in Denkschr. Kaiserl. Akad. Wiss., Wien, Math.-Naturwiss. Kl. 79: 296. 1908), who misidentified as L. riedeliana a specimen from the state of São Paulo where the species does not occur. During the taxonomic revision of Lippia L. for the forthcoming Flora of Brazil, online 2020 (http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br), we contacted the Curator of LE to locate the type specimen of L. riedeliana. He sent us photographs of the five specimens he found at LE. All specimens contain labels with information that matches the contents presented by Schauer in Flora Brasiliensis: “in locis glareosis arenosis prov. Tejuco, Decembri”. Additionally, these labels show: “Riedel 1228”, probably the collection number by Riedel. These five specimens are, by definition (see Art. 40 Note 1 of the ICN; Turland & al. in Regnum Veg. 159. 2018), the syntypes of the name L. riedeliana, and we are lectotypifying the name in the present paper. After careful checking of the details of these specimens at LE, we concluded that Lippia riedeliana is the same as L. rosella Moldenke (in Phytologia 39: 449–450. 1978), a species based on material collected by Irwin & al. 28442a (LL), from Minas Gerais State. This species is endemic to the region of the Diamantina Plateau in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and can be recognized in having strigose branches, opposite or ternate leaves, scabrid adaxially, glandular-strigose abaxially, green bracts, vinaceous at the apex, and pink corollas. It grows in the Brazilian savanna, called locally “Campos Rupestres”, at 1200–1400 m elev. Since its publication in 1978, this later synonym, Lippia rosella Moldenke, has been consistently applied to the taxon rather than L. riedeliana. Additionally, this species has economic importance (medicinal properties such as: anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antifungal) and has been the target of several papers dealing with cytology, genomics, physiology, chemistry, and taxonomy, e.g.: Viccini & al. (in Pl. Syst. Evol. 246: 1–8. 2004, 256: 171–178. 2005); Pimenta & al. (in Brazil. J. Bot. 30: 211–220. 2007); Campos & al. (in Pl. Syst. Evol. 291: 133–140. 2011); Sousa & al. (in Anais Acad. Brasil. Ci. 84: 1029–1037. 2012, 85: 147–157. 2013); Chaves & al. (in Genet. Molec. Res. 13: 7864–7868. 2014); Singulani & al. (in J. Med. Pl. Res. 27: 4416–4422. 2018); and Cardoso & al. (in Phytotaxa 455: 47–52. 2020). To maintain nomenclatural stability for this species name that has economic importance, we propose the rejection of the name Lippia riedeliana, a 173-year-old name that has long been obscure and that seems, as noted above, to have been used only three times since its publication. The adoption of the present proposal will secure the current use of L. rosella. PHC, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6198-6729 FRGS, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9000-4683 JP, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4783-3125 We thank Vladimir Dorofeyev for sending photos of the type specimens of Lippia riedeliana deposited at LE. PHC thanks the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Brazil) for the doctorate scholarship (141837/2020-9).