Triplaris americana

Koenemann, Daniel Mark & Burke, Janelle M., 2025, A nomenclatural synopsis of the genus Triplaris (Polygonaceae), Phytotaxa 700 (2), pp. 115-146 : 119

Triplaris americana L. (1759: 881)

Type (designated by Dugand 1960):—[ VENEZUELA. Barcelona, February 1755] (fr), Unknown Collector (neotype: LINN [ LINN 108.1, digital image!]).

Notes:— This is the accepted publication for the name Triplaris americana . The type specimen was uncovered and attached to this name by Dugand (1960) after much research and visits to many herbaria. The specimen is from the Linnaean herbarium ( LINN) but it is unclear who collected the specimen. This is not something that Dugand (1960) reports and it is not part of the collection data currently associated with the specimen. It is speculation that Loefling is the collector who, being a student of Linnaeus, sent many of his collections back to Linnaeus for study, but it is not certain. For discussion of Loefling and his collections see Dorr & Wiersema (2010a, b, c).

The collection metadata (locality, date, etc.) do not appear on the specimen or in the protologue but are provided by Dugand (1960) presumably from other sources associated with the collection. Dugand (1960) lists the locality as “circa Barcelonam in littore Venezuelae” because other collections of Loefling made at the same time were made in Barcelona. The Barcelona on the Venezuelan coast referred to here is, given the locality, most likely the present-day capital of Anzoátegui, situated near Puerto la Cruz.

This is the type of the genus, which was first named by Loefling in his Iter Hispanicum (1758) . See genus entry above for more details.