PhytoKeys 3: 35–37, doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.3.1174
A new name and a new synonym in Miconia (Melastomataceae)
Susanne S. Renner1, Renato Goldenberg2
1
Herbaria and University of Munich, Menzingerstr. 67, Munich, Germany
2
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal do Paraná, 81531-970, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
Abstract
The name Miconia densiflora Cogn. (1886) is a later homonym of Miconia densiflora (Gardner) Naudin (1851), but since we propose it as a taxonomic synonym of Miconia caudata (Bonpl.) DC. (1828), we do not provide a new name. The name Miconia longicuspis Herzog (1909) is a later homonym of Miconia longicuspis Cogn. (1891) and we here propose its replacement by Miconia longicuspidata S.S. Renner & R. Goldenb.
KeywordsBolivia, Colombia, Melastomataceae, Miconia, homonyms, synonyms, taxonomy
Introduction
The site Melastomataceae.net provides a portal to open-access databases dealing with Melastomataceae,
a pan-tropical family of about 3500 species. Among the databases that
can be accessed at this site is “MEL names, ” which deals with the ca.
13, 278 names of Melastomataceae and Memecylaceae (= Melastomataceae subfamily Olisbeoideae)
and provides information on recognized species, synonyms, and
relevant literature. In the course of dealing with the 1497 names
available for Miconia
Ruiz & Pav., a genus of at least 1061 accepted species, we
discovered two homonymy problems, resolved here. Since one of the
homonyms is actually a heterotypic synonym of another species, a
replacement name is only needed for one of these species. A
comprehensive taxonomic treatment of Miconia is currently in preparation, as part of the PBI Miconieae project (sweetgum.nybg.org/melastomataceae/ ).
Systematics
Replaced name: Miconia longicuspis
Herzog, Feddes Repert. Nov. Sp. 7: 64. 1909. Type: Bolivia. Cordillera
de Santa Cruz: Cerro Amboró, Cuñucú, 600-1400 m, Oct 1907, T.Herzog
326 (holotype: Z!). Not Miconia longicuspis Cogn. in A.DC. & C.DC, Monog. Phan. 7: 850. 1891.
Comments.
Miconia longicuspis Herzog is a later homonym of Miconia longicuspis Cogn., a treelet from eastern Brazil (Goldenberg and Reginato 2006). Miconia longicuspidata
is known only from the holotype at Z, a collection by Theodor Herzog
(1880-1961) in the mountains of Cuñucú, Bolivia, in 1907. We have
found no isotypes or type photos in G, JE, L, U, W, or WAG. This
species most closely matches Miconia abbreviata
Markgr., a widespread shrub that ranges from Bolivia throughout the
Amazon basin to the Guianas, but differs in the much denser secondary
venation. In Miconia abbreviata the secondaries are spaced at about 0.5–0.7 mm apart, in Miconia longicuspidata,
only 2–3 mm apart. Theodor Herzog was an expert mountaineer and
collector, who explored widely in Bolivia. During his two expeditions
to that country in 1907/08 and 1910/11, he collected about 600 species
of vascular plants. In 1910, Herzog not only explored the Cordillera
Santa Cruz, where Miconia longicuspidata
appears to be endemic, but also surveyed the Cordillera de Cocapata, a
range of peaks near Cochabamba extending northwest for about 100
kilometers. A description of the flora of the Cordillera de Santa Cruz
is given in Herzog (1910). A color photograph of the type is available at http://www.zuerich-herbarien.uzh.ch.
Basionym: Melastoma caudata Bonpl., Monogr. Melast. 1: 13. t. 7. 1807.
New synonym: Miconia densiflora Cogn., Bot. Jahrb. 8(1): 22, 1887 [1886]; et in A. DC. & C. DC. Monog. Phan. 7: 744, 1891, syn. nov. Type: COLOMBIA. Cauca: Popayan, Apr 1883, Lehmann 2798 (Isotype: US!). Non Miconia densiflora (Gardner) Naudin, Ann. Sc. Nat. Ser. 3, 16: 245, 1851, basionym Chaenopleura densiflora Gardner, Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot. 2: 349, 1843.
Comments.
Miconia densiflora Cogn. is a later homonym of Miconia densiflora (Gardner) Naudin, which in turn is a taxonomic synonym of Miconia pusilliflora (DC.) Triana, a shrub from eastern Brazil (Cogniaux 1891; Goldenberg 2000). By contrast, Cogniaux’ Miconia densiflora
is based on a collection made by Lehmann near Popayán, in the State of
Cauca, Colombia, in 1883. The name is undoubtedly a taxonomic synonym
of the common and frequently collected Miconia caudata (Bonpl.) DC. Cogniaux (1891: 736, 739) erroneously states that Miconia caudata has glandular-pubescent filaments, while Miconia densiflora has glabrous ones. However, all 15 specimens of Miconia caudata that we checked had completely glabrous filaments. A color photograph of Miconia densiflora’s type is available at http://www.botany.si.edu/types.
Acknowledgements
The “Mel Names” project was funded by seed money from the
“Electronic Catalogue of Names of Known Organisms” project organized by
GBIF International 2005. We thank Werner Greuter for his advice and R.
D. Stone for his careful review of our manuscript.
ReferencesCogniaux
CA (1891) Melastomataceae. In: De Candolle A, De Candolle C (Eds)
Monographiae Phanerogamarum, vol. 7. G. Masson, Paris, 1–1256.
Goldenberg R (2000) O gênero
Miconia
Ruiz & Pav. (Melastomataceae). I. listagens analíticas, II. Revisão
taxonômica da seção Hypoxanthus (Rich. ex DC.) Hook. F. PhD Thesis,
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil.
Goldenberg R, Reginato M (2006) Sinopse da
família Melastomataceae na Estação Biológica de Santa Lúcia (Santa
Teresa, Espírito Santo). Boletim do Museu de Biologia Mello Leitão –
Nova Série 20:33-58.
Herzog T (1910) Pflanzenformationen
Ostbolivias. Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte
und Pflanzengeographie 44:346-405.