Viola argentina W. Becker (1922a: 184)

Nicola, Marcela Viviana, Salomón, Luciana & Zuloaga, Fernando Omar, 2018, Nomenclatural and taxonomic study in species of Viola (Violaceae) from Argentina, Phytotaxa 338 (2), pp. 151-176 : 152

Viola argentina W. Becker (1922a: 184)

Type:—[ ARGENTINA.] La Rioja: Chilecito, Sierra Famatina , alrededores de Mina San Juan, 3050–3200 m., 21 February–3 March 1906, F. Kurtz 13582 (holotype, B [destroyed]; lectotype, designated here CORD 00003342 [digital image!], isolectotype, CORD 00003343 [digital image!]) .

Protologue citation:— “ Argentinia: Anden, leg. F. Kurtz, ohne genauere Stand-ortsangabe (Herb. Mus. bot. Berol); wahrscheinlich aus dem Gebiete westlich von Córdoba.”

Distribution:— Endemic of La Rioja province, Argentina.

Notes:— Wilhelm Becker explains in the protologue that the collection was made by Fritz Kurtz in the Andes of Argentina, but there is no indication of a precise location. Becker cites the herbarium of Berlin and that the collection was probably done in the territory to the west of Córdoba. However, the species was actually collected in La Rioja province ; one specimen was deposited at CORD and another one at B. Several type specimens of Viola were noted by Becker in his publications as having been deposited at the Berlin herbarium (B), but the pre-1943 collection of pressed specimens was lost almost entirely during the destruction of the herbarium in the course of World War II ( Hiepko 1987). We therefore selected the specimen with the barcode number CORD 00003342 as the lectotype because it is located in the herbarium where Kurtz deposited much of his original material, is an abundant and complete specimen, agrees with the protologue, includes a clear handwritten field note by Kurtz, and possesses a label with the identification of the specimen made by Becker, indicating that the latter must surely have examined this specimen.