Two new combinations, lectotypifications and a new name for Costa Rican Palicourea s.l.

Andreas Berger

doi:10.3897/phytokeys.80.13330

Abstract

Species of the complex and diverse genera Psychotria and Palicourea are common but little-known elements in many tropical forest ecosystems. DNA-phylogenetic studies and a re-evaluation of morphological characters have recently shown that species of Psychotria subg. Heteropsychotria are nested within Palicourea s.l., which was traditionally separated by exhibiting a bird-pollinated (vs. insect-pollinated) pollination syndrome. In order to render both genera monophyletic groups, species of subg. Heteropsychotria need to be transferred to Palicourea s.l. For Central American species, most of the necessary combinations have already been made. In the course of ongoing research on the phytochemical characterization of species and clades of Costa Rican Palicourea s.l., the nomenclature of Mesoamerican species was revised. As a result, two new combinations and a new name are proposed here: Palicourea horquetensis (Dwyer & Hayden) A. C. Berger & C. M. Taylor is based on Rudgea horquetensis Dwyer & Hayden, Palicourea tonduzii (K. Krause) A. C. Berger is based on Cephaelis tonduzii K. Kraus and Palicourea longiinvolucrata A. C. Berger replaces Psychotria hispidula Standl. In addition, two lectotypes are designated.

Highlights

Species of the complex and diverse genera Psychotria L. (1759: 929) and Palicourea Aubl. (1775: 172–175) are prominent but little-known elements in tropical forest ecosystems. Both have long been considered closely related, and Palicourea was differentiated from Psychotria by characters associated with hummingbird rather than insect pollination
DNA-phylogenetic studies and a re-evaluation of morphological characters have shown that species of Psychotria subg
Heteropsychotria have to be transferred to Palicourea s.l

Summary

Introduction

Species of the complex and diverse genera Psychotria L. (1759: 929) and Palicourea Aubl. (1775: 172–175) are prominent but little-known elements in tropical forest ecosystems. Species of Palicourea are typically found in the understory of rainforests and are especially frequent in high elevation habitats where Psychotria and other related genera are less speciose (Taylor 1996, 1997). Heteropsychotria have to be transferred to Palicourea s.l. The combined group includes more than 800 species, is variable in flower characters, but is supported by vegetative and fruit characters as well as by DNA phylogenetic data (Razafimandimbison et al 2014). A complete synonymy, an enumeration of type specimens and two lectotypifications are provided for these three species.

Results

Conclusion