A synopsis of the species of Cyathea (Cyatheaceae-Polypodiopsida) with pinnate to pinnate-pinnatifid fronds
Author
Lehnert, Marcus
text
Phytotaxa
2012
2012-07-30
61
1
17
36
http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.61.1.2
journal article
10.11646/phytotaxa.61.1.2
1179-3163
5061680
Cyathea grandifolia
Willd. var.
munita
(Kuhn) Lehnert
,
comb. et stat. nov.
Basionym:
Cyathea munita
Kaulfuss (1824: 260)
, nom. nud.
Cnemidaria munita
Presl (1836: 57)
, nom. nud.
Hemitelia munita
Hooker (1844: 32)
, nom. nud.
Hemistegia munita
Presl (1847: 47)
, nom. nud.
Hemitelia munita
Kuhn (1869: 162)
. Type:—„America,“ without date,
Palisot de Beauvois s.n.
,
Herb. Willdenow No. 20168
(
holotype
B-fragment US).
Hemitelia bullata
Christ (1897: 81)
.
Hemitelia obtusa
var.
bullata
(H.Christ)
Domin (1929a: 71)
.
Cyathea obtusa
var.
bullata
(H.Christ)
Domin (1930: 142)
. Type:—
GRENADA
. “In collibus prope Monte Felix,“
1400 ft
,
28 November 1889
,
Eggers 6035
(
holotype
B-fragment NY [Herbarium Krug & Urban], isotypes F, P,
US
)
Distribution and habitat:
—
St. Vincent
,
Grenada
,
Trinidad & Tobago
, and
Venezuela
at
300–1100 m
.
Remarks:
— This
variety represents
Cnemidaria grandifolia
var.
obtusa
sensu
Stolze (1974)
.
Kaulfuss (1824)
did not cite any specimens for his
Hemitelia obtusa
.
Stolze (1974)
referred to
Krug (1884
–1898), who cited
Ryan s.n.
(LZ, destroyed) and
Sieber fl. mixta
331
(LZ, destroyed) as specimens annotated with this name in the Kaulfuss herbarium. Although Stolze did not see any authentic specimens of these collections, he considered them as possible
syntypes
. He did not realize that both specimens lie outside the proposed range of his
Cnemidaria grandifolia
var
obtusa
:
Ryan
s.n.
is from
Montserrat
, and
Sieber fl. mixta
331
from
Martinique
(M. Christenhusz, pers. comm.). Furthermore, the Sieber collection is a published
syntype
of
Hemitelia kohautiana
, a synonym of
Cyathea grandifolia
var.
grandifolia
. Therefore I think it is more justified to treat
Hemitelia obtusa
as a
nomen nudum
in the synonym of the latter variety.
The next available basionym is
Hemitelia munita
Kuhn. The
type
in the Willdenow herbarium consists of three fertile pinna pairs and fits Stolze’s description of this
variety well
. However, the sheet at B bears the annotation “Pallisot – Beauvois”, very likely referring to Baron Palisot de Beauvois, a French naturalist (1752–1820) who made extensive collections of plants and insects in West Africa,
Haiti
and the
United States
but of which most were lost in fires and ship wrecks before they could arrive in Europe (
Merrill 1936
). It is not confirmed that he collected on the Lesser Antilles; he may have passed them on his way from
Guinea
to
Haiti
but he was stricken with yellow fever during this journey. Also, the ship would probably have stopped for new provisions at one of the French colonies, like
Guadeloupe
or
Martinique
, i.e. in the range of
var.
grandifolia
. The only confirmed collecting activity by Palisot de Beauvois in the Neotropics is on
Haiti
, but
Cyathea grandifolia
does not occur here or the rest of Hispaniola; it is replaced here by
C. horrida
(
Linné 1753: 1092
)
Smith (1793: 416)
. The few samples collected by Palisot de Beauvois that are preserved are also sparsely annotated and notoriously mislabelled, e.g. the provenances “Africa” and “America” are often confused.
Consequently I choose
Hemitelia munita
only reluctantly as new varietal basionym, given the possibility that the
type
specimen in the Willdenow herbarium has been erroneously attributed to Palisot de Beauvois.
Cyathea haughtii
(Maxon)
Tryon (1976: 48)
.
Alsophila haughtii
Maxon (1944: 46)
. Type:—
COLOMBIA
.
Santander
: Cerro Armas,
1300–1500 m
,
26 July 1936
,
Haught 1957
(
holotype
US
, isotype
US
).
Distribution and habitat:
—
Colombia
at
1300–1500 m
.
Cyathea horrida
(L.)
Smith (1793: 416)
.
Polypodium horridum
Linné (1753: 1092)
.
Hemitelia horrida
(L.)
Brown (1810: 158)
.
Cnemidaria horrida
(L.)
Presl (1836: 57)
.
Actinophlebia horrida
(L.)
Presl (1847: 48)
.
Hemistegia horrida
(L.)
Fée (1850
-1852: 351).
Cormophyllum horridum
(L.) Newman (1854: 238). Type:— plate in
Plumier (1693)
Description des plantes de l'Amérique avec leurs figures 3: t. 4, (
lectotype
, designated by
Proctor 1985: 157
; authentic specimen (epitype) LINN-HL1251-59)
Cyathea commutata
Sprengel (1804: 146)
.
Hemitelia commutata
(Spreng.)
Schlechtendal (1856: 474)
. Type:—[
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
?]. “
Santo Domingo
,“ without date,
anonymous s.n.
(
holotype
LZ, destroyed).
Hemitelia hookeri
Presl (1848: 350)
,
nom. nud.
Hemistegia repanda
Fée (1850
–1852: 351).
Type
:—
BRAZIL
or
CUBA
.
Without
date,
Linden
s.n.
(
holotype
RB).
Hemitelia acuminata
Schlechtendal (1856: 474)
,
nom. nud.
Hemitelia hookeriana
Schlechtendal (1856: 474)
,
nom. nud.
Distribution and habitat:
—
Cuba
,
Haiti
,
Dominican Republic
,
Puerto Rico
,
Jamaica
,
Costa Rica
,
Panama
,
Colombia
,
Venezuela
,
Ecuador
, and
Peru
at 100–1350(–1500) m. Lower tropical mountain rainforests and foothills.
Remarks:
—An occurrence in
Brazil
is unconfirmed except for the ambiguously labelled
type
of
Hemistegia repanda
.
Cyathea karsteniana
(Klotzsch)
Domin (1929b: 264)
.
Hemitelia karsteniana
Klotzsch (1852: 42)
.
Cnemidaria karsteniana
(Klotzsch)
Tryon (1970: 52)
. Type:—
VENEZUELA
. [Cultivated in the private garden of Privy Councillor Decker, chief court compositor in Berlin]
Karsten
s.n.
(
holotype
„Columbien, Decker,
31 December 1851
,
Karsten
142
“ B, isotype „Culta in horto Deckeriano Berolini,“
18 September 1850
,
PRC
[Herb. Presl]).
Distribution and habitat:
—
Venezuela
and
Ecuador
at
950–1550 m
. Moist lower mountain forests.
Cyathea latevagans
(Baker)
Domin (1929b: 262)
.
Alsophila latevagans
Baker (1881: 203)
.
Trichipteris latevagans
(Baker)
Tryon (1970: 45)
. Type:—
COLOMBIA
:
Antioquia
,
6700 ft
,
15 January 1880
,
Kalbreyer 1327
(
holotype
K, isotype B).
Distribution and habitat:
—
Colombia
,
Ecuador
and
Peru
at
1850–3150 m
. Along road cuts, rock escarpments and in low ridge top vegetation.