Mirabilis longiflora Linnaeus (1755: 7)

Sandoval-Ortega, Manuel Higinio & Sánchez-Escalante, José Jesús, 2022, The family Nyctaginaceae (Caryophyllales) in Sonora, Mexico, Phytotaxa 575 (1), pp. 35-56 : 49-50

8.6. Mirabilis longiflora Linnaeus (1755: 7) .

Type (not designated).

= Mirabilis wrightiana Gray ex Britton & Kearney (in Britton & Kearney 1895: 28) ≡ M. longiflora var. wrightiana (A. Gray ex Britton & Kearney) Kearney & Peebles (1939: 475) .

Lectoype (here designated):― UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. New Mexico, Valley of Coppermine Creek, near Santa Rita, 4 August 1951, Wright 150 ( GH00001017 [image!], right-side specimen only, image available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/huhwebimages/ ADA8 FFC556204D8/ type /full/1017.jpg; isolectotype GH00001018 [image!] https://s3.amazonaws.com/huhwebimages/3565 B 22265 B74 C9 / type /full/1018.jpg) .

Typification of the name Mirabilis wrightiana :― The protologue of M. wrightiana (Britton & Kearney 1895: 28) consists of a brief description (by mentioning the characters by which this taxon differs from M. longilfora and M. jalapa ), and the citation of a sintype (“Wright’s plant No. 1702”). However, Gray’s distribution no. 1702 consist only of one Wright’s field collection no. 150 (see Johnston 1940: 6 of list 1851–1852 second part; see also Spellenber’s label on sheet GH00001018). According to Le Duc (1997), some specimens were distribuited by Gray under exsiccata numbered with “1702” and it has not been ascertained if these are all part of the original material. We traced five sheets stored as Wright no. 1702, deposited in four different herbaria: K (1), US (1), GH (2), and NY (1). Le Duc (1997: 630) cited as holotype a specimen deposited in GH and as isotype another one at NY. The two sheets deposited in GH were examined and labeled by Spellenberg in 1999 as lectotype (barcode GH00001017, the right-side specimen only) and isolectotype (barcode GH00001018). However, these designations made by Spellenberg were not found in any published paper. Hernández-Ledezma (2018: 46) mentioned that the lectotype (GH00001017) and isolectotype (GH00001018) were designated by Spellenberg (2001: 60), but in that publication Spellenberg only mentions “tipo de M. wrightiana , procedente de Nuevo México: C. Wright 150 (GH!)”. So, the designation of lectotype is not effective according to Arts. 9.14, 9.23, and 7.11 ICN. The specimen GH00001017 (right-side of the sheet only) is here designated as lectotype according to Ar. 9.3 ICN; it is in good conditions, shows flowers, matches Gray’s protologue, and corresponds to the currect concept in Mirabilis (see e.g., Hernández-Ledezma 2018, Sandoval-Ortega et al. 2020).

Distribution in Mexico: ―It is reported from Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Ciudad de México, Coahuila, Durango, Estado de México, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Morelos, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tlaxcala y Veracruz ( Sandoval-Ortega 2020). In Sonora it is distributed in Chihuahuan Desert and Sierra Madre Occidental biogeographic provinces ( Fig. 4C ), and has been collected in Agua Prieta, Cananea, Imuris, Magdalena, Nacozari de García, Nogales, Santa Cruz and Yécora municipalities, in desert grasslands, riparian forest, Oak forest and Pine-Oak forest, at 700–2400 m a.s.l.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Distribution of the Nyctaginaceae genera in the State of Sonora. A: genera Abronia, Allionia, Acleisanthes, Okenia, and Pisonia; B: genus Boerhavia; C: genus Mirabilis; D: genera Boldoa, Commicarpus, Cyphomeris, and Salpianthus.