Aethionema schistosum Boiss. & Kotschy

AL-Shehbaz, Ihsan A. & Barriera, Gabrielle, 2019, Typification of Edmond Boissier’s Cruciferae (Brassicaceae) names enumerated in Flora Orientalis, Boissiera 72, pp. 1-193 : 145-146

Aethionema schistosum Boiss. & Kotschy in Boiss., Diagn. Pl. Orient. ser. 2, 5: 42. 1856.

Type: “Hab. in schistosis Tauri Cilicici cl. Kotschy”.

Neotypus (designated here): TURKEY: “Partie inférieure de la vallée de Kar-Boghas, entre Gulet-Boghas et la partie la plus élevée du Taurus oriental”, 28.VII.1855, Balansa 189 ( G-BOIS [ G00797343 ]; isoneo-: G [ G00414303 ], P [ P00432272 , P05434356 ]) ( Fig. 28 , p. 120) .

Notes. – Not a single Kotschy specimen of the very distinctive A. schistosum was found in the Geneva herbaria. Such specimen, if existed, may have been misplaced, lost, or seen elsewhere.

The species folder in G-BOIS has two specimens, of which one was collected by Haussknecht in 1865, nine years after the publication of the species. The second was collected by Balansa in Taurus Cilicici on 28 July 1855, at least 13–14 months before the publication date of A. schistosum . It is rather puzzling why BOISSIER (1856) did not cite Balansa’s collection, though he cited it in Flora Orientalis along with the collections of Haussknecht and Kotschy. It would be an important find if Kotschy’s specimen is discovered. However, in its absence, the best way to preserve the correct interpretation of the species limits is to designate a neotype. In our opinion, the best choice is Balansa’s collection, which was examined by Boissier, and it is represented by four duplicates one each at G and G-BOIS and a pair in P.

Balansa’s duplicate P05434356 is a mixed collection with Haussknecht’s 1865 gathering annotated by Boissier and initially part of Bunge’s herbarium.

Locality of the P duplicates is “Région sous-alpine du Taurus, au nord du défilé des Portes Ciliciennes”. Except for the neotype, which has the collection number Balansa 189, the isoneotypes have Balansa s.n.

Figures

Fig.28. Neotype of Aethionema schistosum Boiss. & Kotschy in G-BOIS (p.145).