Microlicia euphorbioides Martius (1831: 107)

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 : 105-107

Microlicia euphorbioides Martius (1831: 107) . See “tab. 252”.

≡ Microlicia euphorbioides var. ionantha Martius [as jonantha] (1831: 107, tab. 252, fig. 2). Crescit in pascuis apricis calidioribus prope S. Joâo do Principe , Sabará et alibi in Provincia Minarum. Floret primis anni mensibus [in the protologue].

Lectotype (designated here):— BRAZIL. Provincia Min. Ger. [Minas Gerais]: in montibus actis fractus Serro Frio dicti varior, s.d., Martius [sheet] ( M0165696 !), syn. nov .

= Microlicia euphorbioides var. leucantha Martius (1831: 107) . See “tab. 252, fig. 1”. Cresci in pascuis apricis calidioribus prope S. Joâo do Principe, Sabará et alibi in Provincia Minarum [in the protologue]. Lectotype (designated here):— BRAZIL. In alpinis supra saxa arenaria, locis glareosis, prope Villan Ricam et Serro Frio, Serra Grão Mogór et Provinciae Min. Gen., Martius [sheet] (M0242330!), syn. nov.

= Microlicia oblongifolia Naudin (1845: 177) . In vallibus montium Serra da Ibitipoca nec non in campis, prov. Minas Geraes frequens. Ex herb. et mss. clar. Aug. St. -Hil. [in the protologue]. Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Serra do Ibitipoca , 1838, P. Claussen Cat. 581 [sheet] (holotype P00506248 !, isotype P00506249 !), syn. nov.

= Microlicia oblongifolia var. β leucantha Naudin (1845: 178) . In campis circa Sitio [in the protologue]. Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: vers Sitio, 1816–1821, A.S. Hilaire [Cat. C1 n° 136] [sheet] (holotype P02297662!), see Martin & Cremers (2007).

= Microlicia euphorbioides var. β humilis Cogniaux (1883: 98). In humidis paludibusque ad Villa Franca prov. Minas Geraës, Riedel n. 2357 [in the protologue]. Lectotype (designated here): BRAZIL. In humidis paludibusque da Villa Franca, s.d., Riedel 2357 [sheet] ( P02428286 !, isolectotype LE!), syn. nov.

= Microlicia euphorbioides var. η parvifolia Cogniaux (1883: 98). In locis siccis aridis ad Meia ponte, Engenho et S. Anna prov. Goyaz, Pohl n. 1981, 2800 [in the protologue]. Lectotype (designated here):— BRAZIL. Goiás: in locis siccis aridis da Meia Ponte, Engenho et S. Anna, s.d., Pohl 1981 [sheet] ( BR0000005221431 !), syn. nov.

Remaining syntype:— BRAZIL. Goiás: in locis siccis aridis da Meia Ponte, Engenho et S. Anna, s.d., Pohl 2800 (W!) .

= Microlicia euphorbioides var. ε setosa Cogniaux (1883: 98) . In prov. Mato Grosso prope Cujabá : Manso n. 293; in ripa Rio Verdinho prope Caldas prov. Minas Geraës , Mosen n. 1282, in Brasilia occidentali loco haud indicato: Tamberlik [in the protologue]. Lectotype (designated here):— BRAZIL. Mato Grosso: prope Cuiabá, s.d., Manso 293 [sheet] ( BR000000522111 !), syn. nov.

Remaining syntypes:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: in ripa Rio Verdinho prope Caldas, s.d., Mosen 1282 ( P02297732 !); s.loc., s.d., Tamberlik ( BR0000005221448 !) .

=? Microlicia euphorbioides var. matogrossensis Pilg. in Engler (1902: 180). Gesellig an trocknem Abhang am Quellbach des Jatobá, n. 668 Bluhend und funchehtend in June 1899 [in the protologue] (holotype B†).

Notes:—Martius (1831) described M. euphorbioides with two varieties: M. euphorbioides var. leucantha with wider leaves, acuminate apices, and white flowers [see tab. 252, fig. 1, in Martius (1831)] and M. euphorbioides var. ionantha with narrower leaves, acute apices, and pink flowers [see tab. 252, fig. 2, in Martius (1831)]. Martius (1831) did not indicate any collection to M. euphorbioides and neither to its varieties but provided a beautiful illustration of each. In the original description of M. euphorbioides , the author mentioned only “ crescit in pascuis apricis calidioribus prope S. João do Principe, Sabará et alibi in Provincia Minarum. Floret primis anni mensibus ”, suggesting this species is widespread and based upon field observations. There is no herbarium specimen known that matches these two localities, but Martius (1831) wrote “ et alibi ” (and in other places), so he saw (collected?) the species also in other localities. There is one specimen at M that are original Martius collection from Villa Rica/Serro Frio in Minas Gerais. These localities are not directly cited in the protologue, but they are originally by Martius and could be “ et alibi ”. Therefore, we consider this sheet as original material of M. euphorbioides , according to Article 9.3 ( Turland et al. 2018).

This publication automatically established the corresponding autonym M. euphorbioides var. euphorbioides according to Article 26.3 ( Turland et al. 2018). Since Martius (1831) did not mention any original material for the autonym, and this sheet matches the description, we designate Martius (M0165696) as the lectotype (Articles 9.2 and 26.2). The sheet at M bears one branch with flowers and a description of Rhexia enervia handwritten by Schrank and does not mention the color of the petals. The sheet also has two labels with determination of M. euphorbioides var. leucantha and M. euphorbioides [var.] ionantha handwritten by Martius ( Fig. 4 ). The label with the determination M. euphorbioides [var.] ionantha also has the name R. enervia . The vegetative and reproductive parts correspond perfectly well to the protologue description and the illustration of M. euphorbioides var. ionantha , and we believe that this variety was based on the same collection (Martius, M0165696).

Martius (M0242330) is designated as lectotype of M. euphorbioides var. leucantha ( Fig. 5 ), according to Article 9.11 ( Turland et al. 2018), since correspond perfectly well to the protologue description and the illustration of M. euphorbioides var. leucantha . In addition, this sheet has a description of Rhexia euphorbioides handwritten by Schrank attached, where he mentions the flowers have white petals. Most of the populations of M. euphorbioides have pink flowers, only some populations occurring in cerrado from Uberlândia, Carrancas and Delfinópolis ( Romero 1996; Matsumoto & Martins 2005; Silva & Romero 2008), in Minas Gerais and from Serra dos Pireneus, in Goiás are known by having flowers with white petals ( Versiane et al. 2016).

The specimen Martii Herbar Florae Brasil 939 at M (M0165695, F0 BN016594 ) was identified by Martius as M. euphorbioides var. rosea , but this variety was never published. In fact, this specimen corresponds to Microlicia helvola ( Sprengel 1825: 309) Triana (1872: 25) . A sheet at G (G00318506!) and K (on the right side) herbaria also bear a branch of M. helvola , but at W the same number corresponds to M. serpyllifolia .

In the protologue of M. oblongifolia, Naudin (1845) reported that the material used to describe this species is in the Saint-Hilaire herbarium. The author also mentioned a manuscript (mss.) which we believe is the label with a short description and drawing on the left side of the sheet. Thus, we assume that this is the holotype and that the other sheet which does not have the handwritten label is the isotype.

Naudin (1845) described M. oblongifolia with its variety ( M. oblongifolia var. leucantha ) by having small white flowers. Naudin (1845) noted that M. oblongifolia was close to M. euphorbioides and possibly not distinct (haec species M. euphorbioidi valde affinis est nec ab ea forsan distinguenda). We follow Cogniaux (1883) in treating M. oblongifolia var. leucantha as a synonym of M. euphorbioides because the description is consistent with its circumscription.

Cogniaux (1883) described M. euphorbioides var. setosa based on three syntypes. Here Manso 293 from BR is designated as lectotype because it better represents the species description, clearly showing the characters mentioned in the protologue. The syntype Mosen 1282 actually does not match the description of M. euphorbioides and possibly is a new species. Cogniaux (1883) proposed the varieties based on morphological features of the leaves, which are insufficient to maintain them as varieties and certainly are variations of the typical form.

The holotype of M. euphorbioides var. matogrossensis was destroyed during World War II (see Hiepko 1987), and despite searches in several herbaria, no one duplicate was found.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Sheet with the lectotype of Microlicia euphorbioides Mart. with a draft description prepared by Schrank at M. Source: ©Botanische Staatssammlung München (SNSB-BSM), M0165696. Available in: https://plants.jstor.org/stable/viewer/10.5555/al.ap. specimen.m0165696.

FIGURE 5. Sheet with the lectotype of Microlicia euphorbioides var. leucantha Mart. with a draft description prepared by Schrank at M. Source: ©Botanische Staatssammlung München (SNSB-BSM), M0242330. Available in: https://plants.jstor.org/stable/viewer/10.5555/ al.ap.specimen.m0242330.