Psychotria mariniana (Cham. & Schltdl.) Fosberg, Occas. Pap. Bernice Pauahi Bishop Mus. 23(2): 43, 1962.

Berger, Andreas, 2018, Rediscovery of Chamisso's type specimens of Hawaiian Psychotria (Rubiaceae, Psychotrieae) in the herbarium of the Natural History Museum, Vienna, PhytoKeys 114, pp. 27-42 : 27

Psychotria mariniana (Cham. & Schltdl.) Fosberg, Occas. Pap. Bernice Pauahi Bishop Mus. 23(2): 43, 1962.

Coffea mariniana Cham. & Schltdl., Linnaea 4(1): 35-36, 1829a. ≡ Straussia mariniana (Cham. & Schltdl.) A.Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 4: 43, 1860. Type. USA. Hawaii: Oahu, Southern Koolau Range, <730 m alt., 28 Nov to 14 Dec [probably 8-9 Dec] 1816, L.K.A. von Chamisso s.n. (lectotype, designated here: W-Endl. 0066414!); Kaeleku, west branch near trail, 1 Jun 1933, G.W. Russ s.n. (epitype, designated here: BISH barcode 1010995!, Sohmer 1977: fig. 36! under erroneous collection " Russ, 1. July, 1938").

General remarks.

Psychotria mariniana (sect. Straussia ) is widespread and found on the islands of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai and Maui. The species is variable in morphology and habitat preferences and grows in both wet and dry forests ( Sohmer 1977, 1978; Wagner et al. 1999). A detailed synonymy and description of the species including lists of specimens, distribution maps, drawings and photos illustrating morphological variations is found in Sohmer (1977: 141-148). According to molecular phylogenetic data, Psychotria mariniana belongs to the " mariniana " clade comprising also Psychotria hawaiiensis (A.Gray) Fosberg var. hawaiiensis and Psychotria wawrae Sohm. ( Nepokroeff et al. 2003).

Etymology.

The protologue of Psychotria mariniana lacks information about the etymology of the name, but the species appears to be named in honour of the Spanish Don Francisco de Paulo Marín (1774-1837), who is mentioned in Chamisso’s expedition report (1836a: 218, 340ff). Initially an apprentice on a Spanish ship associated with the Malaspina Expedition, he deserted and jumped ship at Nootka Sound (Canada) in 1792. According to Marín’s own account, he was then tricked aboard a ship in San Francisco and kidnapped to Hawaii ( Chamisso 1836a: 218, but see Cutter 1980: 20 on the credibility of Marín’s stories). According to archival sources, he joined the U.S. ship Lady Washington under the command of Captain John Kendrick and finally reached Oahu in 1793 or 1794 ( Gast 1973; Cutter 1980).

Marín settled on the island of Oahu and soon became an influential advisor to the Hawaiian King Kamehameha I, a wealthy merchant, horticulturalist and introducer of many useful plants and animals such as pineapple ( Nagata 1985). During both of Chamisso’s visits to Oahu, Marín provided information, advice and logistic support for his collecting activities ( Chamisso 1836a: 218, 340ff; Hillebrand 1888: 179).

Typification.

The protologue gives the type information as "Legimus in nemorosis montium O-Wahu A. D. 1816" ( Chamisso and Schlechtendal 1829a: 35-36). Using the information in the itinerary ( Chamisso 1826: 7-8) and diary ( Chamisso 1836a: 215-222, 230) allows dating the expedition’s first visit to Oahu from 28 November to 14 December 1816. Details on their collecting activities during that time are found in the diary and point towards higher altitudes of the Koolau Range as the type locality, which is an area where Psychotria mariniana frequently occurs today ( Sohmer 1977: fig. 37).

Chamisso made his first botanical collections on the island of Oahu on an "old crater behind Honolulu", which became known as Diamond Head. He subsequently focused his collecting efforts on the forested valleys around Honolulu. Once, he also collected at higher elevations, for which he made an excursion on 8-9 December 1816. He ascended a valley behind Honolulu, crossed the ridge of the Koolau Range and descended towards the coast. The next day, he returned through a much higher mountain pass to the west ( Chamisso 1836a: 230). As the only high-elevation area where collections were made during that visit, the type locality "forested mountains" points towards the aforementioned crossing of the Koolau Range. This appears to be supported by a comparison of collecting localities of different species, in which Chamisso indicated lower-elevation sites such as near sea-level habitats, foothills or other special habitat types in a different way (e.g. Chamisso and Schlechtendal 1826a: 167, 1826b: 539, 1827: 36; Chamisso 1830: 44).

In a similar case as described above, a type specimen of Psychotria mariniana is preserved in the private herbarium of Endlicher at W (Figure 2 ). As with the P. kaduana material, the form and details of its label agree with other of Chamisso’s collections, although it lacks any inscriptions in his hand. Instead, it says only “Chamisso”, “Oahu” and “6/31” in ink, as well as “200” in pencil, which was probably added at a later date. The meaning of the numbers is unclear, but the former could refer to the time of acquisition in the herbarium of Endlicher. In 1984, Sohmer confirmed the identification of this specimen as P. mariniana .

Typification.

As for Psychotria kaduana , the rediscovered original material of P. mariniana supersedes the neotype designated by Sohmer (1977; ICN, Art. 9.19). This specimen is also incomplete, with two small sterile branchlets and a packet with loose leaves and a single fruit. This specimen is here designated as the lectotype of P. mariniana and, in order to maintain nomenclatural stability, the former neotype G.W. Russ s.n. (BISH) is here designated as an epitype (ICN, Art. 9.8).

Figures

Figure 2. Lectotype of Psychotria mariniana (Cham. & Schltdl.) Fosberg collected by L. K. A. von Chamisso during the Romanzoffian Expedition in 1817 (L. K. A. von Chamisso s. n., W-Endl. 0066414). The sheet originates from the private herbarium of S. L. Endlicher, now preserved at the Herbarium of the Natural History Museum, Vienna. Photo: Courtesy of the Natural History Museum, Vienna.