Acalypha paxii Aug.D.C., Bull. Herb. Boissier, ser . 2, 1: 567. 1901.

Munoz, Iris Montero, Cardiel, Jose Maria & Levin, Geoffrey A., 2018, Nomenclatural review of Acalypha (Euphorbiaceae) of the Western Indian Ocean Region (Madagascar, the Comoros Archipelago, the Mascarene Islands and the Seychelles Archipelago), PhytoKeys 108, pp. 85-116 : 85

26. Acalypha paxii Aug.D.C., Bull. Herb. Boissier, ser. 2, 1: 567. 1901.

Acalypha urophylla Pax, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 19: 96. 1894. nom. illeg. non A. urophylla Boivin ex Baill. (1861). Acalypha reticulata var. urophylloides Pax & K.Hoffm., Pflanzenr. 147, 16 (Heft 85): 105. 1924. Acalypha filiformis var. urophylloides (Pax & K.Hoffm.) Govaerts, World Checkl. Bibliogr. Euphorbiaceae 63. 2000.

Type.

Madagascar. Prov. Antsiranana: Nossibé, nordwest, Feb 1880, J. M. Hildebrandt 3356 (holotype B or WRSL, presumably destroyed; lectotype, designated here: BREM [BREM0001784]!; isolectotypes: JE [JE00004294!, JE00004293!], K [K000186531]!, M [M0110600]!, P [P00536741!, P00536742!, P00536743!]).

Acalypha pervilleana Baill., Adansonia 1: 273. 1861. Acalypha reticulata var. pervilleana (Baill.) Müll.Arg., Linnaea 34: 32. 1865. Acalypha filiformis var. pervilleana (Baill.) Govaerts, World Checkl. Bibliogr. Euphorbiaceae 62. 2000. Type. Madagascar. Prov. Antsiranana: Nossibé, 1840, M. Richard 384 (lectotype, designated here: P [P00536745]!; isolectotype: P [P05604474]!, syn. nov.).

Syntypes. Madagascar, Prov. Antsiranana: Nossibé, M. Pervillé 368 P [P00536746!, P00536747!].

Acalypha humblotiana Baill., Hist. Pl. Madag., Atlas (1891) t. 1891. Acalypha reticulata var. urophylla f. humblotiana (Baill.) Leandri, Notul. Syst. (Paris) 10: 262. 1942. Type: Comoros: Grande comore, 14 Nov 1885, L. Humblot 1461 (lectotype, designated here: P [P00196295]!; isolectotypes: P [P02712292!, P00196296!], syn. nov.).

Acalypha meiodonta Baill., Bull. Mens. Soc. Linn. Paris 2: 1197. 1895. Acalypha reticulata var. meiodonta (Baill.) Leandri. Notul. Syst. (Paris) 10: 267. 1942. Type: Madagascar: Centr. Madag., Dec. 1883, R. Baron 2826 (lectotype, designated here: P [P05604378]!; isolectotype: K [K000186508]!, syn. nov.).

Syntype: Madagascar: "Centr. Madag.", s.d., R. Baron 6581 K [n.v.].

Acalypha reticulata var. meiodonta f. andronea Leandri, Notul. Syst. (Paris) 10: 268. 1942. Type: Madagascar, Prov. Mahajanga, Bemarivo ( Boïna), Dec 1906, H. Perrier de la Bâthie 9561 (lectotype, designated here: P [P00513143]!; isolectotype: P [P00513144]!, syn. nov.).

Former syntypes: Madagascar, Prov. Mahajanga, bord du massif du Manongarivo, versant du Sambirano, 1909, H. Perrier de la Bâthie 9934 P [P00513149]!; Massif du Manongarivo, versant du Sambirano, Sep 1909, H. Perrier de la Bâthie 9939 P [P00513150]!; haut Bemarivo (Andranofosy), Boïna, Jan 1907, H. Perrier de la Bâthie 9635 P [P00513145]!; Massif du Manongarivo, Sambirano, Apr 1909, H. Perrier de la Bâthie 9928 P [P00513142]!; Manongarivo (Ambongo), Oct 1904, H. Perrier de la Bâthie 1677, P [P00513146!, P00513147!].

Distribution.

Madagascar (Antsiranana, Mahajanga, Toamasina). Comoros Archipelago (Grande Comore, Anjouan, Mohéli and Mayotte).

References.

Müller Argoviensis (1866: 852) as A. reticulata var. pervilleana ; Müller Argoviensis (1882: 26) as A. reticulata var. urophylla ; Müller Argoviensis (1866: 852) as A. reticulata var. pervilleana ; Baillon (1892: 1004) as A. pervilleana ; Baillon (1895b: 1197) as A. humblotiana ; Palacký (1907: 25, 26); Pax and Hoffmann (1924: 105, 112) as Acalypha reticulata var. urophylloides and A. reticulata var. pervilleana ; Leandri (1942: 258, 260) as A. reticulata var. pervilleana ; Govaerts et al. (2000: 62, 63, 75, 104 105, 107).

Notes.

Acalypha paxii was proposed by August De Candolle as a replacement name for the illegitimate A. urophylla Pax. Leandri (1942) treated A. paxii as a synonym of A. reticulata var. pervilleana . We consider that A. paxii is a well-differentiated species.

Acalypha paxii , A. pervilleana and A. meiodonta have been considered synonyms of A. reticulata , which we consider to be a synonym of A. filiformis . A. paxii can be differentiated from A. filiformis by its sessile, dentate female bracts with a prominent central tooth vs. pedicellate, crenate to subentire female bracts in A. filiformis (see notes in A. filiformis ).

Acalypha paxii can be distinguished from A. urophylla , which has also been placed within A. reticulata , mainly by its leaves with usually caudate apices, its dentate female bracts with a prominent central tooth and eglandular margins vs. leaves with usually acuminate apices, dentate female bracts without a prominent central tooth and with small sessile glands at the margins. See notes under A. gracilipes Baill. for the differences between A. paxii and that species.

Acalypha humblotiana was first illustrated, without description, in Baillon`s (1891) Histoire Naturelle des Plantes, but this illustration is not consistent with Baillon`s (1895b) later description nor with the specimen on which the description presumably is based (L. Humblot 1461).

Although Richard 384 [P00536745]! and 385 [P04779454]! have labels giving the locality as “Bourbon”, now Réunion, these are not Richard’s original labels and the species is otherwise unknown from the Mascarene Islands. We do not have evidence that it occurs there.