Aloe microstigma, Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck

Klopper, Ronell R., Grace, Olwen M., Klopper, Arrie W., Smith, Gideon F. & Van, Abraham E., 2023, A taxonomic revision of Aloe sect. Purpurascentes (Asphodelaceae subfam. Alooideae), Phytotaxa 628 (1), pp. 1921-1935 : 1921-1935

4. Aloe microstigma Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck (1854: §26, t.4)

Type:—Salm-Dyck, Monographia generum Aloes et Mesembryanthemi 6: sec. 26, t. 4 (1854) (lectotype, designated by Glen & Hardy 2000: 106, as ‘iconotype’, here corrected to lectotype).

Epitype (designated here):— SOUTH AFRICA, Western Cape: 2 miles north of Worcester, 12 July 1949, G.W. Reynolds 5429 (epitype PRE PRE0090543 !) .

Note regarding type: — Glen & Hardy (2000: 106) designated the plate Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck (1854: §26, t.4) as ‘iconotype’, which is a term not defined in Turland et al. (2018); ‘iconotype’ is here corrected to lectotype. The lectotype (a plate available at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/257287#page/60/mode/1up) is an illustration by Joseph Franz Maria Anton Hubert Ignatz Fürst zu Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck (1773–1861), prepared from a plant grown at the Schönbrunn Gardens in Vienna, Austria. In the protologue Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck (1854) mentions that he had seen an adult plant there in 1816. This plant was sent from the Cape of Good Hope by a Mr. Boose and successfully grown in the famous gardens of the Schönbrunn Palace. Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck later received seeds of this species from Christian Friedrich Ecklon (1795–1868) and germinated them with success in his own garden near Düsseldorf, Germany. Not surprisingly, the growth form of the plant in the illustration is not typical of plants grown in its natural environment. Leaves on the illustration is very long, narrow, recurved and almost pendent in old leaves, unlike the erectly spreading leaves of plants found in its natural distribution range. The small white spots on the leaves, as well as the inflorescence and flowers are accurately illustrated.

A specimen from the Worcester region in the Western Cape, South Africa ( G. W. Reynolds 5429), held at Herb. PRE is here chosen as epitype to complement the illustration that serves as lectotype. This specimen consists of a single inflorescence that is split lengthwise and the ab- and adaxial surfaces of a single leaf. The specimen shows the diagnostic characters of the species, even though the leaf surfaces are only slightly white-spotted, consistent with older plants from that region. Aloe microstigma is abundant in the Worcester area and this was likely the first significant population of this species that early explorers would have encountered on their expeditions from the Cape into the interior.

Synonyms:— Aloe arabica Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck (1817: 27, 60), nom. illegit. Type not cited.

Aloe brunnthaleri A.Berger ex Cammerloher (1933: 131) . Type:— SOUTH AFRICA, Western Cape: Matjiesfontein, 1910, J. Brunnthaler s.n. (holotype B †). [It was confirmed that this specimen is no longer extant at Herb. B (J. Paule, pers. comm., July 2023)]. Lectotype (designated here):— Unnumbered figure (photograph) of vegetative material of Aloe brunnthaleri at the bottom of page 131 of Cammerloher (1933). Epitype (designated here):— SOUTH AFRICA. Western Cape: Laingsburg, Anysberg road , between Rooikop and Rondekop , 6 July 2010, R.R. Klopper & A.W. Klopper 308 (epitype PRE! ; isoepitype NBG!).

Other designation:—‘ Aloe perfoliata sensu Mottram’ (2013: 11). Representative material:— Aloe africana maculata spinosa minor, Dillenius, Hortus elthamensis 1: t. 15, fig.16, (1732). Mottram (2013) erroneously accepted the lectotype as having been designated by Scopoli (1783: 128) (see Klopper et al. 2016 for more information).

Note regarding type of A. brunnthaleri : —The only specimen referred to in the protologue of A. brunnthaleri (Camerloher 1933) is “ Südafrika: Matjesfontein, leg. Brunnthaler 1910”. It is here presumed that “1910” is the date of the collection and not the collecting number of Brunnthaler (see Cammerloher 1933: 131, last line on page). This specimen, later cited as being deposited at Herb. B (e.g., Glen & Hardy 2000: 106), is here interpreted as the holotype. It was confirmed that this specimen is no longer extant at Herb. B and that, if it was deposited there, was likely destroyed during World War II (J. Paule, pers. comm., July 2023). Josef Brunnthaler (1871–1914) collected the plant in South Africa and Hermann Josef Cammerloher (1885–1940) later validly published the name Aloe brunnthaleri and provided a description based on a plant that flowered in the botanical garden of the University of Vienna, Austria. Both Cammerloher and Brunnthaler were staff of the University of Vienna at the time. Further enquiries to the Herbaria W and WU did not reveal any other material of A. brunnthaleri (H. Voglmayer, Herb. W, and A. Berger, Herb. WU, pers. comm., October 2023). Since the type specimen is no longer extant, the only other original material is the images in the protologue. One of the two figures included on p. 131 of Cammerloher (1933) is here designated as lectotype. This black and white photograph of vegetative material of a plant grown under glasshouse conditions in Europe for more than 20 years, is not typical of the plant in its natural environment. Therefore, a specimen collected in the Laingsburg area just east of Matjiesfontein (the type locality) in July 2010 (R.R. Klopper & A.W. Klopper 308) is here designated as epitype to support the lectotype. This specimen is deposited at Herb. PRE with a duplicate at Herb. NBG. Both duplicates consist of an inflorescence that is split lengthwise (each specimen with one of the halves), ad- and abaxial surfaces of a leaf, and an envelope with loose flowers. In addition the epitype at Herb. PRE also has a cross-section through a leaf and a flower sequence (which is not present on the isolectotype at Herb. NBG).