Stickmannia perforans (C.B. Clarke) Kuntze (1891: 721)

Aona, Lidyanne Yuriko Saleme, Bittrich, Volker & Amaral, Maria Do Carmo E., 2018, Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on Brazilian Dichorisandra (Commelinaceae), Phytotaxa 348 (1), pp. 1-13 : 7

8. Dichorisandra perforans Clarke (1881: 281) .

≡ Stickmannia perforans (C.B. Clarke) Kuntze (1891: 721) , syn. nov.

Type:— BRAZIL. Goyaz (Goiás): dry shady wood near Arrayas, flower blue, March 1840, Gardner 4019 (Lectotype [here designated]: K 000363214 ! (photo available at http://plants.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.5555/al.ap.specimen.k000363214); Isolectotypes BM 000884403 !, K 000363215 !) .

= Dichorisandra gaudichaudiana Kunth (1843: 113) var. induta Clarke (1881: 279) , syn. nov.

Type:— BRAZIL. Piauhy (Piauí): Common in shady road near Brejo Grande , but rare in flowers when shaded, fl. blue. July 1839, Gardner 2446 Ceará (Lectotype [here designated]: K 000363217 ! (photo available at http://plants.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.5555/ al.ap.specimen.k000363217); Isolectotype: BM 000884589 !) .

Distribution: —Occurs in the states of Ceará, Goiás, Piauí and Tocantins.

Habitat:—This species is associated with riverine forests and can occur near rocky outcrops.

Notes:— Clarke (1881) described D. perforans based on material collected by George Gardner (1812–1849) in Goiás. This species has lateral or apical inflorescences and six stamens, among other characters that are distinctive. Collections by Gardner were found at K and BM. The specimen K 000363214 has a label that reads “Gardner 4019, Goyaz. dry shady road near Arrayas, flower blue, March 1840 ”. Since Gardner 4019 is clearly annotated in Gardner’s handwriting, it is the obvious choice for the lectotype of D. perforans according to Art. 9.12 of the ICN ( McNeill et al. 2012).

In the same work, Clarke also described D. gaudichaudiana var. induta based on a plant collected by Gardner with an apical inflorescence. The isolectotype of D. gaudichaudiana var. induta at BM says “Brejo Grande on the western side of the Serra do Araripe, Ceará ” while the lectotype of this species at K is annotated with “Piauhy”. The “western side of the Serra do Araripe” is partly included in Piauí, thus one cannot completely exclude the possibility that Gardner collected the specimen in that state. Brejo Grande, however, today lies clearly within the southern parts of the state of Ceará and we believe that the annotation on the specimen at BM is correct. In the protologue, Clarke (1881) describes D. gaudichaudiana var. induta as having the following characters: “ foliia in utraque pagina sparsim molliter pilosis; panicula elongata, angusta, laxiuscula, fulvide pilosa; sepalis pilosis.” After studying the specimens collected in central Brazil, such as the states of Goiás and Tocantins ( Aona 2008), it became clear that these belong to a single species with glabrous leaves on both surfaces or leaves with sparse indument at the base on the abaxial surface. Other material from Ceará also varies in the presence of leaf blade indument. Differences in indument on the abaxial surface of the blade is not sufficient to separate D. perforans from D. gaudichaudiana var. induta , especially when considering other characteristics are shared by both taxa; e.g. flowers with six stamens, anthers dehiscent by two apical pores and cylindrical capsules. Therefore, there is no doubt that they are the same species and, in the present work, D. gaudichaudiana var. induta is considered a synonym of D. perforans .