Abies alba Miller (1768

Ferrer-Gallego, P. Pablo, Laguna, Emilio & Ferrer-Gallego, Raúl, 2022, Nomenclatural notes on the Mediterranean firs (Abies, Pinaceae), Phytotaxa 549 (1), pp. 31-50 : 32-33

Abies alba Miller (1768 : Abies No. 1)

When describing Abies, Miller (1768) transferred Pinus picea Linnaeus (1753: 1001) to his new genus as Abies alba Miller (1768 : Abies No. 1) (see below). He also included as synonym the Tournefort’s polynomial “ Abies laxi folio, fructu surtum spectante” (1700: 585), which was cited by Linnaeus in the protologue.

The Linnaeus’s protologue (1753: 1001) of Pinus picea included a nomen specificum legitimum “ PINUS foliis solitaris emarginatis” followed by four synonyms. The first synonym “ Abies foliis solitariis apice emarginatis” was cited from an earlier Linnaean work (1738: 449), also from van Royen (1740: 89) and Gmelin (1747: 176), the second synonym “ Abies laxi folio, fructu surtum spectante” was cited from Tournefort (1700: 585), the third “ Abies conis surtum spectantibus s.[sive] mas” was cited from Bauhin (1623: 505), and the fourth synonym “ Abies femina s.[sive] Elate teleja” was cited from Bauhin & Cherler (1650: 231). In addition, the protologue includes the locality “ Habitat in Alpibus Helvetiae, Sueviae, Bavariae, Scothiae”.

Several authors (e.g., do Amaral Franco 1986) consider that the species was described by Miller, and the provenance (or locus classicus) is “… vicinity of Strasbourg and other parts of Germany ”. However, Miller (1768), in the preface to The gardeners dictionary, ed. 8, stated that he had “now applied Linnaeus’s method entirely except in such particulars…”, of which he gave examples. Concretely, he referred to Linnaean genus Pinus [pro parte] under Abies Mill. : “Dr. Linnaeus, professor of botany at Upsal, whose system in generally followed at present, ranges this genus in the ninth section of his twenty-first class of plants […]. To this genus he joins the Pine, Cedar, and Larch-tree, supposing them only different species of one genus; however, as there is great difference in the culture of these trees, we shall choose to continue the former method of arranging them under their different genera. It may not be amiss however to observe, that in the former edition of Linnaeus’s Genera Plantarum, these plants were ranged under the article Abies , but in the last edition he has thought proper to place them under Pinus ” ( Miller 1768: [ABI]). The names Pinus picea and Abies alba have the reference to “ Abies taxi folio, fructu fursum spectante” of Tournefort (1700: 585) in common. Therefore, an implicit reference to a Linnaean binomial may be assumed. Thus, the Miller’s binomial Abies alba is accepted as a replacement name (see ICN Art. 41.3. Ex. 6; Turland et al. 2018). In addition, according to ICN Art. 35.2. Ex. 5. “Combinations validly published. In Linnaeus’s Species plantarum the placing of the epithet in the margin opposite the name of the genus clearly associates the epithet with the name of the genus. The same result is attained in Miller’s The gardeners dictionary, ed. 8, by the inclusion of the epithet in parentheses immediately after the name of the genus [...]”.

Among the original elements, an original illustration was published by Bauhin & Cherler (1650: 231) and is linked to the synonym cited in the protologue by Linnaeus “ Abies femina s.[sive] Elate teleja”. The lectotype of Pinus picea was designated by Farjon & Jarvis (in Greuter 1993: 110) from a specimen preserved in the Clifford Herbarium at BM (Herb. Clifford: 449 Abies 2), with barcode BM000647435 ( Fig. 1 ) (see Jarvis 2007: 745, Farjon 2010: 59), this material is linked to the synonym cited by Linnaeus in the protologue as “ Abies laxi folio, fructu surtum spectante” cited from Tournefort (1700: 585).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lectotype of Abies alba Miller, Herb. Clifford: 449, Abies 2, BM (barcode BM000647435). Photography courtesy of Herbarium BM; reproduced with permission.