Microlicia graveolens Mart. & Schrank ex De Candolle (1828: 119)

Romero, Rosana, Versiane, Ana Flávia Alves & Woodgyer, Elizabeth M., 2022, Miscellaneous taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on Microlicia D. Don (Melastomataceae), Phytotaxa 559 (2), pp. 99-131 : 107-111

Microlicia graveolens Mart. & Schrank ex De Candolle (1828: 119) .

In campis altis irriguis prov. Min. gen. [Minas Gerais] Brasiliae [Brasil] [in the protologue].

Type :— [ BRAZIL]. Provinciae Min. Gen. [Minas Gerais]: in altis campis Montium Pietatri et Carassae al. 3-4000 pes., s.d., Martius [sheet] (holotype M0165699 ! , isotypes BM000795934 ! branch on the right side, BR000000521024 ! branch on the right side, G00310099 ! [fragment], P02297722 !) .

= Microlicia seringeana Mart. ex De Candolle (1828: 119) . ≡ Microlicia graveolens var. β seringeana (Mart. ex DC.) Triana (1872: 26) . In Brasiliâ [ BRAZIL] [in the protologue]. Type:— BRAZIL. Minaria [Minas Gerais]: s.d., Martius [sheet] (holotype M0165700!, isotype G00310289! [fragment]), syn. nov.

= Microlicia hilariana Naudin (1845: 178) . In nemore prope Itambe nec non in ruderatis circa Restio in prov. Minas Geraes, sed praecipue in montibus Serra de Cadonga frequens. Ex herb., et mss. clar. St.-Hil. [in the protologue]. Type:—[ BRAZIL]. In nemore prope Itambe et nec non in montibus Serra de Cadonga, s.d., A.St. Hilaire [sheet] (holotype P02297804!), see Martin & Cremers (2007), syn. nov.

= Microlicia leucantha Naudin (1849: 239) . In campis humidis Brasiliae centralis, Weddell [in the protologue]. Lectotype (designated here):—Brésil [ BRAZIL] central, campos humides, 1844, M.A. Weddell 2560 [sheet] ( P02297831 !, isolectotype P02297830 !), syn. nov.

= Microlicia leucantha var. purpurea Cogniaux (1888: 592) . Habitat in prov. Rio de Janeiro: Glaziou 14720 in herb. Eichl. [in the protologue]. Lectotype (designated here):— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Ouro Preto, au campo de São Sebastião, see Glaziou (1908), 12 February 1884, A.F.M. Glaziou 14720 [sheet] (BR0000005208302!, isolectotypes K000530512!, P02297828!, P02297829!, R000009180!), syn. nov.

Notes:—In the protologue of M. graveolens, De Candolle (1828) cited that he examined a Martius specimen (v.s. in h. Mart.). There is a sheet at M with a description of Rhexia graveolens handwritten by Schrank and Martius attached ( Fig. 6 ), which should be considered the holotype of M. graveolens .

In the protologue of M. leucantha, Naudin (1849) indicated a collection made by Weddell in Brazil. Since there are two sheets at P (Weddell 2560), we designated the sheet with a short description and drawing made by Naudin as the lectotype of M. leucantha .

Cogniaux (1883) described M. leucantha var. purpurea to include specimens with purple to purple-violet flowers. In the protologue of M. leucantha var. purpurea, Cogniaux (1883) cited Glaziou 14720 at Herb. Eichl. According to Stafleu & Cowan (1976), the types of South American from A.W. Eichler (1839–1887) are mainly at B, destroyed during World War II (see Hiepko 1987), but a part at M and G. Duplicates were only seen at BR, K, P, and R. The material at BR was chosen as the lectotype because the vegetative and reproductive parts correspond to the protologue description, it is in good condition, and BR was the home institution of Cogniaux. In the protologue, Cogniaux (1883) mentioned that the specimen was collected in Rio de Janeiro, but in the suppressed work “Liste des plantes du Brésil Central recueillies en 1861–1895”, Glaziou (1908) noted that Glaziou 14720 is from Ouro Preto, in Minas Gerais state. In fact, the specimen Glaziou 14720 at P has the annotation “Ouro Preto (campo de S. Sebastião)” handwritten by Glaziou, whereas the specimen from BR does not bear information as to where it was collected. Microlicia graveolens is endemic to Minas Gerais state ( Romero et al. 2020), occurring in the Espinhaço Range and, up to now, there is no record for Rio de Janeiro state. Certainly, this is also indicative of erroneous data from Glaziou collections (see Wurdack 1970).

The original description of M. graveolens matches with the morphology of M. seringeana , M. hilariana , M. leucantha , and M. leucantha var. purpurea ; therefore, we propose them as synonyms of M. graveolens .

Figures

FIGURE 6. Sheet of the original material of Microlicia graveolens Mart. & Schrank ex DC. at M. A. Sheet with the holotype. B. Draft description prepared by Schrank. Source: ©Botanische Staatssammlung München (SNSB-BSM), M0165699.Available in: https://plants. jstor.org/stable/viewer/10.5555/al.ap.specimen.m0165699.