Hoffmannanthus abbotianus (O. Hoffm.) H. Rob., S.C. Keeley & Skvarla, 2014

Robinson, Harold, Keeley, Sterling C., Skvarla, John J. & Chan, Raymund, 2014, Two new genera, Hoffmannanthus and Jeffreycia, mostly from East Africa (Erlangeinae, Vernonieae, Asteraceae), PhytoKeys 39, pp. 49-64 : 57-58

Hoffmannanthus abbotianus (O. Hoffm.) H. Rob., S.C. Keeley & Skvarla comb. nov.

Vernonia abbotiana O. Hoffm., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 20: 221. 1894. Type: Tanzania, Kilimandjaro, Abbot 1890 (holotype B destroyed). Neotype (selected here): Tanzania, Kwa Mshusa, May 1893, Holst 9096 (US, lectotype of Vernonia brachycalyx O. Hoffm.).

Vernonia brachycalyx O. Hoffm. in Engler, Pflanzenw. Ost-Afr. C: 405. 1895. Type: Tanzania Kwa Mshusa, Holst 9096 (syntype B destroyed; lectotype US, selected here, isolectotypes BM, K).

Vernonia meiocalyx S. Moore, J. Bot. 38: 155. 1900. Type: Kenya, Delamere s.n. (syntypes BM).

Vernonia hoffmanniana S. Moore, J. Bot. 38: 156. 1900, nom. nud.

Vernonia jodopappa Chiov., Racc. Bot. Miss. Concol.: 60. 1935, nom. illeg., non Sch. Bip. 1845. Vernonia jodopapposa Lanza, Miss. Biol. Borana, Racc. Bot. Angiosp.-Gymnosp.: 244. 1939. Type: Kenya, Nyeri, Balbo 428 (holotype TOM, isotype FI).

Distribution.

The species occurs from Ethiopia, Congo and Uganda in the north to Angola, Malawi and Zambia to the south.

Notes.

The type specimen of Vernonia abbotiana O. Hoffm. was destroyed in Berlin during the Second World War, and the species was treated by Jeffrey (1988) as one of group titled, "taxa insufficiently known". No duplicates of the type are known. Nevertheless, a specimen, A. Peter OI 119, from Tanzania, Usambara, collected May 25, 1914, identified as Vernonia abbotiana , was deposited in the US. National Herbarium. Although not a type, the specimen led to a careful comparison with the original description of the species ( Hoffmann 1894). The specimen was finally recognized as a Vernonia brachycalyx with unusually long peduncles, but almost certainly fitting the description of Vernonia abbotiana in all details except the peduncles and the supposedly deciduous inner involucral bracts. The inner involucral bracts of Vernonia brachycalyx are not deciduous, but the involucre is short, giving the appearance of a missing inner series. As for the density of the inflorescence in Vernonia abbottiana , the original author, Hoffmann (1894) compared his species with Vernonia livingstoniana Oliv. & Hiern, which is a synonym of Gymnanthemum thomsonianum (Oliv. & Hiern) H. Rob. The latter species is not a close relative, but the reference to it in the original description indicates the kind of dense inflorescence. Such a dense inflorescence is unlike that in the Peter specimen, but it is very like typical material of Vernonia brachycalyx with which the Peter specimen is now identified. The identification might never have been made without the advent of the Peter specimen, but names such as Vernonia abbotiana , dating from comparatively early in the study of tropical Africa, do need to have their identity resolved by some means, in this case by neotypification. Personally, there is no doubt of the identification provided here, and a neotype, that is an isolectotype of Vernonia brachycalyx at the US National Herbarium is selected ( Fig. 6 ), a specimen that matches the denser form of the inflorescence that is indicated by Hoffmann (1894).

Figures

Figure 6. Neotype of Vernonia abbotiana O. Hoffm. and lectotype of Vernonia brachycalyx O. Hoffm.