Phaseolus polystachyus (L.) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg (1888: 15)

Debouck, D. G., 2021, Phaseolus Beans (Leguminosae: Phaseoleae): A Checklist And Notes On Their Taxonomy And Ecology, Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 15 (1), pp. 73-111 : 95-96

Phaseolus polystachyus (L.) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg (1888: 15) [clade B; sect. Paniculati Freytag].

TYPE: J Clayton 568 ( LECTOTYPE: BM-51643 ) .

In the “Preliminary Catalogue of Anthophyta … New York City” (1888, p. 15), Justus Ferdinand Poggenburg and his co-authors spelled the species as Phaseolus polystachyus ; in line with the “golden rule” presented by Nicholas Turland (2013, p. 88) it is thus unclear to this author why this taxon is often changed into “ Phaseolus polystachios .” The “Flora Virginica” by Jan Fredrik Gronovius (1762, p. 106) was key to consider the collection 568 by John Clayton as the lectotype.

The “thicket bean” is a species with a huge distribution at 30–700 m in oak grassland and mixed deciduous woods of the eastern USA where its habitat is shrinking ( Dohle et al. 2019). It has been reported from E Texas ( Turner et al. 2003), goes as far north as New York and Connecticut ( Hollick & Britton 1895), and down to southern Florida ( Small 1933). The following specimens just indicate the approximate extremes of the range.

Specimens: U.S.A. Connecticut: EB Harger 4148 (NEBC-643445). Florida: RP Wunderlin 5667 (POM-348542). Oklahoma: J Taylor 26884 ( BRIT). Texas: WR Carr 18597 (TEX-201584).