Taraxacum stepanekii, a replacement name for Taraxacum roseolum Kirschner & Štěpánek non Charit., with nomenclatural notes on the taxonomic legacy of Boris S. Kharitontsev in the digital era

Abstract

The botanical publications of Boris S. Kharitontsev, who has worked on the flora and vegetation of Tobolsk District (Tyumen Region, south-western Siberia, Russia) for 30 years, make a typical case of grey literature in taxonomic botany. Kharitontsev has described about 400 local “new species” from a single district in this floristically poor territory. Although the taxonomic results of this work are not credible, this vast nomenclatural output requires attention and urges for comprehensive indexing due to requirements of the botanical nomenclature (principles of priority and homonymy). A new species name, Taraxacum stepanekii Sennikov, is proposed for Taraxacum roseolum Kirschner & Štěpánek from Kyrgyzstan, which is an illegitimate later homonym of Taraxacum roseolum Charit.