Microlicia taxifolia Naudin (1845: 183)

Romero, Rosana, Versiane, Ana Flávia Alves & Woodgyer, Elizabeth M., 2022, Miscellaneous taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on Microlicia D. Don (Melastomataceae), Phytotaxa 559 (2), pp. 99-131 : 119-121

Microlicia taxifolia Naudin (1845: 183) . Circa urbiculam la Jacobina prov. Bahia reperit Blanchet ex herb. Mus. Par. [in the protologue].

Type:— Brésil [ BRAZIL] septentrional. Montagne de la Jacobina, 1839, J.S. Blanchet 2606 [sheet] (holotype P02297765!, isotypes BM000795983!, BR0000005221363! [fragment], photo of B† at F [F0 BN016628 ], G00318312!, G00353969!, G00353970!, G00354000!, K000530460!, K000530461, NY!, P02297766!, W0053700!).

= Microlicia schreinerii Schwacke & Cogn. in Cogniaux (1891: 1174). In Brasilia [ BRAZIL] prov. Bahia, in fissuris rupium prope Jacobina (Schreiner, comm. cl. W. Schwacke n. 6987) [in the protologue]. Lectotype (designated here):—[ BRAZIL]. Bahia: prope Jacobina, in fissuvis rupium (quartz), 1890, W. Schwacke 6987 [sheet] (BR0000008250605!, isolectotypes P02297764!, P02297763! as Glaziou 19216, RB00541500!), syn. nov.

Notes:—There are two sheets from Blanchet 2606 at P, but one sheet belonged to E. Drake’s herbarium, donated to P in 1904 (see Bureau 1904; Le Bras et al. 2017). Therefore, we assume the sheet with a short description and drawing made by Naudin as the holotype of M. taxifolia .

The specimen Glaziou 19216 at P has the following annotation “ Minas Gerais Serra do Inficionado, prés Caraça dans le campo”. John Julis Wurdack (1921–1998) pointed out in a handwritten label attached to the sheet: “seems to be the same collection of Schreiner- Schwacke 6987 from BR; probably, this specimen is an isotype of M. schreinerii ”. We agree with Wurdack that this specimen is a duplicate of Schwacke 6987 and consider this number an isolectotype. Probably this represents more erroneous data from Glaziou collections (see Wurdack 1970). The type material of M. taxifolia matches M. schreinerii and is considered here as a synonym.

Microlicia taxifolia is a shrub ca. 50 cm tall with branches, leaves, hypanthium, and sepals covered with a dense indumentum of spherical glands. The leaves are discolorous, ascending with a short petiole 0.5–1.3 mm long. The leaf blades are oblong-lanceolate (10–15 × 1.5–2 mm) with slightly acute to obtuse apices, attenuate bases, entire margins, and a prominent central vein. The flowers have short pedicels 0.7–1 mm long, cylindrical and slightly costate hypanthium, triangular to linear sepals, shorter than the hypanthium length, and pink petals. The dimorphic stamens have ovate-oblong and polysporangiate anthers with a short beak and ventral appendages prolonged on both stamen whorls.