The discovery and naming of Papaver orientale s.l. (Papaveraceae) with notes on its nomenclature and early cultivation

Abstract

Lack, H.W. (2019). The discovery and naming of Papaver orientale s.l. (Papaveraceae) with notes on its nomenclature and early cultivation. Candollea 74: 47–64. In English, English abstract. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15553/c2019v741a7Papaver sect. Macrantha Elkan is a widespread and common polyploid complex comprising the diploid Papaver bracteatum Lindl., the tetraploid Papaver orientale L. and the hexaploid Papaver pseudo-orientale (Fedde) Medw. All three species are restricted in their distribution to the Caucasus area in the wide sense including north-eastern Turkey and north-western Iran. Papaver orientale and Papaver pseudo-orientale were first collected by one of the members of the expedition headed by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) and introduced into cultivation in the Jardin du Roi in Paris as early as 1702. From there living material of both taxa was quickly distributed to other botanical gardens in Amsterdam, Leiden and the Chelsea Physic Garden in London. For decades both species were known only from cultivated specimens. Due to hybridisation both in the field and in cultivation the relationships between the two taxa remained unclear and were further blurred by the introduction of Papaver bracteatum into cultivation which began in Gorenki near Moscow, Berlin and Chelsea around 1800. Based on ample evidence never studied before like unpublished illustrations kept in Paris and Vienna, Tournefort's unpublished field book, and seed lists this paper unravels this complex historical and taxonomic story. In addition, it presents an updated taxonomy including typifications and nomenclatural notes on all three species involved. The very late rediscovery of Papaver orientale and Papaver pseudo-orientale in the wild is seen in the context of the difficulties in access to the Ottoman Empire and the regions east and northeast of it in the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century.Received: January 14, 2019. Accepted: February 15, 2019. First published online: March 28, 2019.