Triplaris siphonopetala H. Gross (1913: 347–348)

Koenemann, Daniel Mark & Burke, Janelle M., 2025, A nomenclatural synopsis of the genus Triplaris (Polygonaceae), Phytotaxa 700 (2), pp. 115-146 : 135-136

Triplaris siphonopetala H. Gross (1913: 347–348)

Type (designated by Brandbyge 1986):— BRAZIL. Amazonas State , Lago de Esperanca, Juruá Miry [River?], August 1901 (fr), E. Ule 5706 (lectotype: K; isolectotype: B [ B 10-0250412 , digital image!]) .

Remaining Syntype:— Amazonas State, Jurua Miry, June 1901 (fl), E. Ule 5577 ( B [ B 10-0250411, digital image!]).

Notes:— The protologue is very thorough. It lists two collections. Brandbyge (1986) designates one as a lectotype ( Ule 5706) and the other as a paratype (sic) ( Ule 5577).

Brandbyge has seen the B specimen of Ule 5706 and annotated it, but not as type material of Triplaris siphonopetala , and this after he had already lectotypified it in 1986. Brandbyge also annotated the Ule 5577 specimen at B.

The type locality for the lectotype is in question. The protologue gives “ Brasilien: Lago de Esperanca, Juruá Miry, Estado de Amazonas”. We can find two Lago de Esperanca in Amazonas State. We can also find a Juruá municipality and a Juruá River in Amazonas State. The Juruá River is very long, running from Peru in the west some 600 miles to the north and east where it flows into the Amazon. Neither of the Lago de Esperanca is located within the Juruá municipality. As a result, it seems reasonable to consider the “Juruá” from the protologue to be referring to the river. Only one of the Lago de Esperanca (really Lago Esperança) is located near the Juruá River, the one in the municipality of Eirunepé. Even here, however, Lago Esperança is actually on the Tarauacá River, a tributary of the Juruá River. It is approximately 50 km north of the location where the Tarauacá River joins the Juruá River. As a result, neither of the Lago Esperança in Amazonas State fit the type locality well.

There is a third option, however. In the neighboring state of Acre there is a Lago Esperança. This Lago Esperança is an oxbow lake off the Juruá River right at the point where the Juruá River is joined by one of its tributaries the Juruá-Mirim River (15 km north and west of Porto Walter). This third Lago Esperança fits the lower-level geographic information of the protologue the best, offering an interpretation for the “Juruá Miry” of the protologue as an orthographic variant of “Juruá-Mirim”. The problem is that this third Lago Esperança does not agree with the higherlevel geographic information included in the protologue as it is not in the state of Amazonas. In fact, it is some 70 km south of the border between Acre and Amazonas (near Cruzeiro do Sul). It is possible that the author simply misunderstood his geographic location. The problem with this interpretation that Acre was not a part of Brazil until 1903 (two years after the collection of these specimens). Moreover, in 1901 there would have been active insurrection and fighting between Brazilian settlers of Acre and the Bolivian government (which had jurisdiction over the area at that time), such that one would probably know if one were in Acre and not Amazonas. We nevertheless consider this third Lago Esperança the most likely type locality due to the correspondence of the lower-level geographic information with the description given in the protologue. Nevertheless, we have given the locality as it is in the protologue (state of Amazonas not Acre) because we cannot be certain.