Cyperus nitens Retzius (1789:13)

Muhsina, Abdul Azeez & Maya, Chandrasekharan Nair, 2025, Nomenclatural notes and typification of Retzius names in the genus Cyperus (Cyperaceae), Phytotaxa 712 (1), pp. 47-58 : 51

Cyperus nitens Retzius (1789:13)

= Cyperus pumilus Linnaeus (1756:6)

Lectotype (Step I. Fischer 1932: Step II. designated here):— INDIA.: Tranquebar [currently Tharangambadi, Tamil Nadu], s.d., König , J. G., s.n., ( LD, LD1293167 , digital image!) ( Fig. 4 ); isolectotypes: [ C, C10010307 , C10010308 , C10010309 , C10010311 and C10010312 , digital images!].

Retzius proposed the name C. nitens based on Koenig’s collection from Tranquebar. The name C. nitens Retz. is currently synonymised under C. pumilus L. There are six sheets from Koenig’s collections (LD1293167, C10010307, C10010308, C10010309, C10010311 and C10010312) housed at Lund, as well as Copenhagen Herbaria. Of these, LD1293167 is likely the one referred to by Retzius while describing C. nitens Retz. and the sheet possesses the inscription ‘ Cyperus nitens N’. There are two specimens mounted on the same sheet and the better preserved one on the left labelled as ‘(1)’ (LD1293167 (1)) and is designated here as lectotype and further original materials are deposited at C, C10010307, C10010308, C10010309, C10010311 and C10010312 to be treated as isolectotypes.

In 1929, Fischer labelled the sheet LD1293167 as the type of Cyperus nitens Retz. However , in 1932, while preparing his manuscript, he erroneously recorded the inscription as ‘ Cyperus cruentus N’ instead of ‘ Cyperus nitens N’ while listing the type. The sheet bearing the inscription ‘ Cyperus cruentus N’ (LD1291667) corresponds to Cyperus sanguinolentus Vahl. To avoid any confusion arising from this misidentification, a second-step lectotypification has been carried out, reaffirming LD1293167 as the correct lectotype of C. nitens Retz.

Figures

FIGURE 4. A. Digital image of the proposed Lectotype of Cyperus nitens Retz. (LD1293167) B. Reverse side of the sheet © Lund Herbarium, reproduced with permission.