Veronica anagallis-aquatica L. var. balansae Bonati

Albach, Dirk C., 2025, From just a few to the most type-rich herbarium for Veronica L. (Plantaginaceae) - The effect of digitization of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle herbarium in Paris, Adansonia (3) 47 (7), pp. 47-130 : 67

Veronica anagallis-aquatica L. var. balansae Bonati

Flore générale de l’Indo-Chine 4, 4: 441 ( Bonati 1927).

TYPE CITATION. — Vietnam: “ Tonkin, Tu Phap (Balansa)”.

LECTOTYPE (designated here). — “Tonkin, Tu Phap, laisses de la Rivière Noire”, B. Balansa no. 3577, III.1888, P[ P00587537* ].

ISOLECTOTYPE (desginated here). — K[ K005096296! ].

Nomenclatural note. Veronica anagallis-aquatica is an almost cosmopolitan species occurring in all kinds of aquatic habitats. It is one of the most phenotypically plastic species ( Ellmouni et al. 2017) and it has been difficult to delimit related species clearly from V. anagallis-aquatica ( Hosseinnejad Azad et al. 2020) . Veronica undulata has been consistently recognized in recent years based on hexaploidy (the only known hexaploids in the subsection Anagallides ), straight pedicels (rather than ascending), sparsely glandular (rather than glabrous) indumentum ( Hong & Fischer 1998) and small, white flowers. It is distributed widely in southern and eastern Asia but largely sympatric with V.anagallis-aquatica . Veronica anagallis-aquatica var. balansae was described by Bonati (1927) as having narrower, more toothed leaves, more elongated inflorescences, and hair-thin pedicels, twice as long as bracts and calyx. These characters can be easily recognized in the two specimens of Balansa in P, although not all pedicels are as long as indicated. Nevertheless, the patent pedicels, the smaller, narrower, and more toothed leaves, as well as the relative (to the rest of the plant) long inflorescence characterize the plants as belonging to V. undulata . The two specimens belong to the Drake and the general herbarium, with the former not labeled with the name (P00587536), and the latter labeled with the new name and with “deter. Bonati”. Therefore, the latter is chosen as lectotype. Another specimen of this collection has been found in Kew with the same label but no note by Bonati.