Plukenetia serrata, (Vell.) L. J. Gillespie

Cardinal-McTeague, Warren M. & Gillespie, Lynn J., 2020, A Revised Sectional Classification of Plukenetia L. (Euphorbiaceae, Acalyphoideae) with Four New Species from South America, Systematic Botany (Basel, Switzerland) 45 (3), pp. 507-536 : 516

2. PLUKENETIA SERRATA (Vell.) L.J.Gillespie, Syst. Bot. 18 (4): 587. 1993.

Vigia serrata Vell., Fl. Flumin. Icon. 9: t.128. 1827 publ. 29 October 1831.

TYPE: BRAZIL. Illustration t. 128 in Vellozo, Fl. Flumin. Icon. 9. 1827 publ. 29 October 1831 .

Fragariopsis scandens A.St.-Hil., Leçons Bot. 426. 1840. Plukenetia scandens (A.St.-Hil.) Pax in Engler & Prantl (eds.), Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3 (5): 67. 1890. TYPE: BRAZIL. 1816–1821. A. de Sainte-Hilaire 95 (lectotype designated here: P! [barcode P00072051]; isolectotype: P! [barcode P00072052]).

Accia scandens A.St.-Hil., Leçons Bot. 499. 1840, nom. illeg. TYPE: not designated. [Likely based on the same syntypes as Fragariopsis scandens , therefore a nomenclatural synonym and an illegitimate name; one of the syntype collections, A. de Saint-Hilaire D 72 (barcodes P00072053!, P00072054!), is annotated as both Accia and Fragariopsis scandens , but the first name appears to be a later addition.]

Botryanthe discolor Klotzsch, Arch. Naturgesch. (Berlin) 7 (1): 191, 204. Table 9b. 1841. Fragariopsis discolor (Klotzsch) Baill., Étude Euphorb. 498. 1858. TYPE: BRAZIL. F. Sellow s.n. (holotype: B [destroyed]; lectotype designated by Gillespie 1993: P! [barcode P00072049]; isolectotypes: F! [fragment], HBG [barcode HBG-516131; image!]). [Klotzsch’ s species Botryanthe concolor given in the same publication was not validly published.]

Fragariopsis polyandrus Baill., Étude Euphorb. 498. 1858. Fragariopsis scandens var. polyandrus (Baill.) Baill., Adansonia 5: 318. 1865. TYPE: BRAZIL. Rio de Janeiro, Mont. Corcovado, Sainte-Thérèse , May 1839, J.B.A. Guillemin cat. n. 798 (lectotype designated here: P! [barcode P00072048]; isolectotypes: G-DC! [pro parte, left specimen excluding packets; barcode G00313646], P! [barcode P00072047], P [as J.-B. Houllet cat. n. 798; barcode P05564458; image!]).

Fragariopsis warmingii Müll.Arg. in Martius (ed.), Fl. Bras. 11 (2): 338. 1874. Plukenetia warmingii (Müll.Arg.) Pax in Engler & Prantl (eds.), Nat. Pflanzenfam. 3 (5): 67. 1890. TYPE: BRAZIL. Minas Gerais: Lagoa Santa, E. Warming s.n. (holotype: P! [barcode P00072055]; isotype: F! [fragment]; probable isotype: F!).

Notes —See Gillespie (1993) for species discussion.

Taxonomic Discussion — Plukenetia serrata was first described as Vigia serrata ( Vellozo 1831) but was widely known as Fragariopsis scandens ( Saint-Hilaire 1840) until the priority of Vellozo’ s name was identified by Gillespie (1993). In the same publication, Saint-Hilaire (1840) described Accia scandens , which is likely a superfluous name for F. scandens based on the same syntypes. The description of Fragariopsis only includes the staminate flowers, whereas Accia is only of the pistillate flowers, however both descriptions are indicative of P. serrata . Botryanthe was independently described by Klotzsch (1841) and was synonymized along with Accia under Fragariopsis by Baillon (1858). Two additional species, F. polyandrus ( Baillon 1858) and F. warmingii ( Müller 1874) , were described, but both are treated as synonyms of P. serrata ( Gillespie 1993) . However, phylogenetic data indicates there is substantial nucleotide variation within P. serrata ( Cardinal-McTeague et al. 2019a), suggesting its species boundaries should be reassessed with better taxon sampling across its morphological and geographical ranges.

Saint-Hilaire (1840) did not cite a collection number in his original species description of Fragariopsis scandens , but two of his collections, each with a duplicate, are housed at P. All four sheets have sufficient vegetative and floral material to identify the species; however, to clarify the type status we designate the best sheet (A. de Saint-Hilaire 95; P00072051) as lectotype. Remaining syntype: BRAZIL. Minas Gerais, 1816–1821, A. de Saint-Hilaire D 72 (P! [barcodes P00072053, P00072054]).

Fragariopsis polyandrus has a complicated type history. Baillon (1858) did not cite any types for F. polyandrus but indicated its species illustrations in Tab. XIII were based on material from “Herb. Houllet” (Atlas, p. 26). Baillon (1865) later cited a single specimen with F. scandens var. polyandrus , “ Guillemin et Houllet (herb.), cat., n. 798”, which matches J.B.A. Guillemin cat. n. 798 specimens housed at P and G-DC. To complicate matters, another collection of Fragariopsis scandens was found at Paris, J.-B. Houllet cat. n. 798. Notably, the Houllet collection includes the locality information cited by Baillon (1865), which is missing from the J.B.A. Guillemin cat. n. 798 sheets at P and G-DC. Guillemin and Houllet were collecting partners in Brazil and many of Guillemin’ s collections appear to have been brought to Paris by Houllet, who later worked as the Jardinier en chef des Serres. Since the Guillemin and Houllet collections are of the same species, share the same catalogue number, and are associated together by Baillon (1865), we consider them the same collection. We designate a lectotype for F. polyandrus based on the P specimen with the most abundant pistillate flowers (note that all of these specimens have dropped and lost their staminate flowers, and that the staminate flowers in the packets of the G-DC sheet appear to belong to the other collection of F. scandens sharing the sheet).