Erythrina mulungu Mart. ex Benth., in Martius, Fl. Bras. 15(1): 173. 1859.

Guedes-Oliveira, Ramon, Fortuna-Perez, Ana Paula, Pederneiras, Leandro Cardoso & Mansano, Vidal de Freitas, 2023, Erythrina L. (Phaseoleae, Papilionoideae, Leguminosae) of Brazil: an updated nomenclatural treatment with notes on etymology and vernacular names, PhytoKeys 232, pp. 1-43 : 1

5. Erythrina mulungu Mart. ex Benth., in Martius, Fl. Bras. 15(1): 173. 1859.

Fig. 5

≡ Corallodendron mulungu (Mart. ex Benth.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 173. 1891.

= Erythrina chacoënsis Speg., in Spegazzini and Girola, Anal. Soc. Rural Argent. 44: 369. 1910; Lillo, Seg. Contr. Arb. Argent.: 20. 1924. Type: Argentina. Formosa, January 1883, Venturi 281 (holotype: LP [LP010837]). (1)

= Erythrina dominguezii Hassl., Physis 6(21): 123. 1922. Type: Argentina. Formosa: "prope Guayculee", September 1918, Jörgensen 3215 (lectotype, designated by Lozano and Zapater 2010, pg. 188: BA [64115, image seen]; isolectotypes: BM [n.v.], G [GH00066286], LIL [n.v.], S [n.v.], US [US00004482]). Residual syntypes: Paraguay. San Pedro: "in silvis ripariis", December 1916, Rojas 2061, BAF (BAF00000133), SI (SI002044, image seen; SI002045, image seen); Alto Paraguay: "Puerto Casado (flum. Paraguay), in silvis", 1916, Rojas 2122, AS (n.v.). (2)

= Erythrina xinguensis Ducke, Arch. Jard. Bot. Rio de Janeiro 3: 167. 1922. Type: Brazil. Pará: "prope Altamira ( Xingú), in silvis secundariis, terries argillosis compactis rufis fertilissimis", 21 August 1919, Ducke s.n. (lectotype, designated here: RB [RB00540259!]; isotypes: B [presumably destroyed], F [V0059282F, frag. and photo of F neg. 2379], K [K000502768], NY [NY00008010, frag. slide, right envelope; NY00008018, frag., top envelope], R [R000043635!], RB [RB00547685!], S [S-R-9685], U [U.1243348]). syn. nov. (3)

Type material.

Brazil. Minas Gerais: "in silvis Catingas prope Contendas [ Águas de Contendas] prov. Minarum", s.d., Martius 1582 (lectotype, designated by Krukoff 1938, pg. 241 [first-step]; and Martins and Tozzi 2018, pg. 399 [second-step]: M [M0240565]; isolectotype: M [M0240564]).

Notes.

Bentham published a treatment of Brazilian Erythrina in Martius’ Flora Brasiliensis ( Martius 1859). He included the name E. mulungu , given by Martius, citing a collection from the state of Minas Gerais but without mentioning any herbaria. Krukoff and Barneby (1974) located a collection by Martius in herbarium M and designated it as the type specimen. However, as there were two different exsiccatae in the mentioned herbarium, Martins and Tozzi (2018) correctly selected one of them as a second-step lectotypification (Fig. 5 ). Some databases give the authorship of the name only to Martius, but Bentham is the author of this species in Flora Brasiliensis. Kuntze (1891) published Corallodendron mentioning E. mulungu as a synonym of C. mulungu , but the genus was later synonymized under Erythrina in Engler and Prantl (1894). Additional material: F (neg. 6302, negative of M0240565), IAN001759 (photo of F neg. 6302).

(1) Spegazzini published E. chacoënsis in Spegazzini and Girola (1910), but the original protologue could not be found online. However, Lillo (1924 [reprint from 1917]) published Notas sobre el Herbario Venturi, mentioning the name and the original collection of Venturi in Argentina. An exsiccata from the same location was found at herbarium LP, which has the inscription " Erythrina chacoënsis Speg. (n. sp.)" and follows the description given by Lillo; hence it is believed to be the original material cited by Spegazzini. The name has been considered as a synonym of E. dominguezii since Krukoff (1938), who believed E. mulungu was a synonym of E. verna Vell., which was later found to be a different and accepted species by Martins and Tozzi (2018).

(2) Hassler (1922) published E. dominguezii mentioning three collections, one from Argentina ( Jörgensen 3215) and two from Paraguay (Rojas 2061 and 2122), but without citing any herbaria. Lozano and Zapater (2010) then correctly designated the collection from Jörgensen as the lectotype of the name. The name was considered accepted until Martins and Tozzi (2018), who correctly synonymized it under E. mulungu . As for the remaining syntypes, some collections are cited here with what was found on digital herbaria and believed to be the original ones. Additional material: MO (MO-1624248, photo n.v.), P (P02934647, photo of GH00066286).

(3) Ducke (1922) published E. xinguensis from Brazil, with a full description and correctly citing the type specimen. However, as there were two exsiccatae in herbarium RB with the same number but without any information regarding a possible division of the same collection in different sheets (e.g. part 1 of 2), one of them was designated here as the lectotype. This name has been synonymized under E. ulei Harms since Krukoff (1938), and it caused much confusion in herbaria as the subsequent taxonomists could not properly identify the species. Ducke’s collections, in fact, correctly represent E. mulungu (Guedes-Oliveira et al. manuscript in preparation) and the name is thus synonymized here. Additional material: F (neg. 2379, negative of B), IAN001764 (photo of F neg. 2379), MO-1680465 (photo of F neg. 2379).

Etymology.

The specific epithet " mulungu " is derived from the most common vernacular name applied to all Erythrina species in Brazil. The origin is unknown, and it has many different meanings in African languages, most referring to a deity or a god creator of everything, father of all gods (e.g. Frankl 1990).

Vernacular names.

According to herbaria labels, E. mulungu is generally known as “mulungu” in Brazil, and also “pau-de-tiriça” in the state of Minas Gerais; “abobreira” (and spelling variations) or “maleitoso” in Mato Grosso do Sul; “açacurana” (and spelling variations) in Pará; and “bico-de-papagaio” in São Paulo.

Figures

Figure 5. Lectotype of Erythrina mulungu Mart. ex Benth., in Martius (1859: 173), designated by Krukoff (1938: 241, first-step); and Martins and Tozzi (2018: 399, second-step). Source: Botanische Staatssammlung Muenchen (M) via JSTOR Global Plants, M 0240565.