Oenothera fruticosa tetragona (Roth) W.L. Wagner, 2014

Wagner, Warren L., 2014, The correct name for a subspecies of Oenothera fruticosa L. (Onagraceae), PhytoKeys 34, pp. 15-17 : 16-17

Oenothera fruticosa tetragona (Roth) W.L. Wagner comb. nov.

Basionym.

Oenothera tetragona Roth, Catal. Bot. 2: 39. 1800.

Type. Grown in the garden of Wilhelm Koch, at Gnadau, near Barby, Germany, of American origin; no extant material located. Pennsylvania. Lancaster Co.: between Churchtown Rd. and Beartown, 6 September 1892, A.A. Heller 549 (neotype, here designated: US-58278; isoneotypes: G-Bois, G, MO, NY). Munz (1937) apparently saw the original type material in B, stating "Ex horto meo Vegesackii, 1799, Oe, tetragona, Herb. A. W. Roth." I contacted Robert Vogt at Berlin and there is currently no extant original material; however, he located a specimen grown from seeds provided by A. W. Roth "e semin. Rothianis in h. bot. Wratislav. colui 1823," but there is no way to clearly connect this material with the original material used when Roth described the species. I have here selected a neotype that fits Roth’s description and was considered to represent this entity in its narrowest interpretation. It was annotated by Munz for his 1937 revision and also by Straley for his 1978 revision.

Synonym.

Oenothera glauca Michx., Fl. Bor.-Amer. (Michaux) 1: 224. 1803. Kneiffia glauca (Michx.) Spach, Hist. Nat. Veg. Phan. 4: 374. 1835. Oenothera fruticosa L. var. glauca (Michx.) H. Lév., Monogr. Onothera 107. 1902. Oenothera tetragona Roth subsp. glauca (Michx.) Munz, N. Amer. Fl., ser. 2, 5: 91. 1965. Oenothera fruticosa L. subsp. glauca (Michx.) Straley, Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 64: 403. 1978 [ “1977”; published 26 May 1978].

Type. Hab. in sylvis remotis et occidentalibus flumini Mississippi confinibus, versus regionem Illinoensium, 1787 or 1789, A. Michaux s.n. (holotype: P, photograph GH; isotype: P). According to Straley (1978) the type is labeled "Ouest de Ohio, Route aux Illinois," but the plant is presumably from the southern Appalachians, in the Carolinas or Virginia where Michaux collected in June and July of 1787 and 1789.