Eperua falcata Aublet (1775: 369)

Fortes, Elenice A. & Mansano, Vidal F., 2022, Untangling nomenclatural issues of some Amazonian trees of Eperua Aubl. (Leguminosae, Detarioideae, Detariae), Phytotaxa 542 (2), pp. 189-198 : 192

Eperua falcata Aublet (1775: 369)

Lectotype (designated by Cowan 1975): — FRENCH GUIANA. Cayenne , s.d. [July 1762 – July 1764], J.B.C.F. Aublet s.n. (BMinflorescence [000952284] image!).

≡ Dimorpha falcata (Aubl.) Forsyth (1794: 391) nom. illeg. superfl.

≡ Panzera falcata (Aubl.) Willdenow (1799: 540) , nom. illeg. superfl.

≡ Dimorpha falcata (Aubl.) Smith in Rees (1808: 656), nom. illeg. superfl.

In his work, Histoire des plantes de la Guiane Françoise, Aublet described 576 genera and 1241 plant species ( Leandri 1968) based on his collections, including E. falcata . We checked all herbaria cited in the taxonomic literature ( Stafleu & Cowan 1976) where it is possible to find Aublet’s collections, but we found only one specimen of E. falcata in BM. There is another sterile collection in P, J.B.C.F. Aublet 8288, originally identified as E. falcata , but characteristics of the leaflets indicate that the specimen is probably E. rubiginosa . Although there is only one specimen, Cowan (1975) needed to designate a lectotype to E. falcata restricted to the inflorescence on the BM sheet, as the vegetative part represents other Eperua species, probably E. rubiginosa . Cowan (1975) cited “ Cayenne 1775 ” as the location and date of the type collection, and the note “ Cayenne Mr. Fusée Aublet 1773 ” is handwritten on the sheet. However , none of these years corresponds to the actual collection date, since Aublet collected the sample in French Guiana between July 1762 and July 1764, leaving the country in July 1764 ( Aublet 1775, Froidevaux 1897) .

Besides the absence of vegetative parts in the sheet, Aublet (1775) presents a poorly detailed description and a plate. Nevertheless, Aublet’s description and plate clearly refer to E. falcata . Among the diagnostic characteristics of E. falcata are falcate leaflets and pendent lateral racemes. These characteristics differentiate it from E. rubiginosa , which has straight leaflets and erect lateral racemes. In addition, E. falcata is clearly distinct from related species with falcate leaflets and pendent inflorescences such as E. leucantha and E. venosa . Aublet’s plate presents a 3-jugate leaf differing from E. venosa that always has 2-jugate leaves. E. falcata ’s plate and type sheet show long lateral racemes with many brownish buds, contrasting with the noticeable shorter lateral racemes with fewer and larger gray buds of E. leucantha .