Selaginella denticulata

Ferrer-Gallego, P. Pablo & Boisset, Fernando, 2015, Lectotypification of the spikemosses Selaginella denticulata and S. ornithopodioides (Selaginellaceae, Lycopsida), Phytotaxa 205 (4), pp. 277-282 : 277-278

Selaginella denticulata (L.) Spring (1838: 149)

The nomen specificum legitimum in the Linnaean protologue (1753: 1106) “ Lycopodium foliis bifariis : superficialibus imbricatis, surculis repentibus, floribus sparsis ” ( Lycopodium leaves of two types: superficial overlapping, creeping shoots, flowers spread) is followed by three synonyms, two accompanied by excellent illustrations: “ Lycopodioides imbricatum repens ” from Dillenius (1742: 462, t. 66, f. 1A), “ Muscus terrestris lusitanicus ” from Clusius (1601: CCXLIX [249]), and “ Muscus denticulatus minor ” from Bauhin (1623: 360), this last one not illustrated.

After consultation of several collections conserved in the Linnaean herbarium (BM, LINN, S-LINN, UPS), we have found only two sheets to be designated as the nomenclatural type of Lycopodium denticulatum (see Jarvis 2007: 647): Herb. Linn. No. 1257.25 (LINN) (image available at: http://linnean-online.org/12686/). It must be noted that this sheet is annotated “24” by Linnaeus, explicitly referring to the number of the species account of Lycopodium denticulatum in the Species Plantarum ( Linnaeus 1753: 1106). The sheet Herb. Linn. No. 1257.24 (LINN) (image available at: http://linnean-online.org/12685/) is also annotated “24 denticulatum ” by Linnaeus at base of the sheet, and in the reverse “ Lycopodioides imbricatum repens Dill. Musc. ” and “ Lecta ad urbem Arogolos in Lusitania a D. Loefling ”. Both sheets at LINN (No. 1257.24 and No. 1257.25), are in good state of conservation including leaves and roots and together with the Dillenius’s (1742) and Clusius’s (1601) illustrations are Linnaeus’s original material (see Jarvis 2007: 647). We select the sheet No. 1257.24 (LINN) as a better choice for the lectotype of the Linnaean name.