Cuphea spermacoce A. Saint-Hilaire, Fl. Bras. Merid.

Brauner, Laiana De Moraes & Cavalcanti, Taciana Barbosa, 2018, A new species, a new synonym and lectotypification in Cuphea (Lythraceae) from Brazil, Phytotaxa 350 (2), pp. 155-160 : 159-160

2. Cuphea spermacoce A. Saint-Hilaire, Fl. Bras. Merid. 3: 114. 1833.

Type:— BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: ‘in campis nuperrimè crematis (vulgò Queimadas) partis provinciae Minas Geraes occidentalis haud infrequens’, 1816–1821, St.-Hilaire s.n. (holotype P-image!, F photo neg. 38343 ex P!).

Cuphea polymorphoides Koehne , in Martius, Fl. bras. 13(2): 269. 1877, s yn. nov. Lectotype (designated here):— BRAZIL. ‘ Brasilia occidentali’, s.d., Tamberlik s.n. ( W [0022489]!, isolectotypes F fragm.!, W [0022492!, 0022491!, 0022490!]).

During the comparative analysis between Cuphea harleyi and C. acinos and C. polymorphoides it was observed that the type-material of Tamberlik s.n. at W, are actually an specimen of C. spermacoce A. St-Hilaire (1833: 114) , a species from western Minas Gerais, Distrito Federal, Goiás and adjacent southern Tocantins ( Graham & Cavalcanti 2013). Cuphea spermacoce is a representative species of Cuphea sect. Oidemation Koehne (1883: 395) , characterized mainly by the presence of decussate to verticillate flowers and a xylopodium. In two specimens of Tamberlik s.n. ( W 0022490, W 0022491) it was also possible to observe the shape of the base of the stem which presents a scar formed when the stem is pulled out of the xylopodium.

The synonymization of C. polymorphoides under C. spermacoce is performed, as well as the species lectotypification, with the choice of one of the four specimens of Tamberlik s.n. deposited at W ( W 0022489), which is annotated by Koehne and has a blue label with a brief diagnosis signed by the author.