Veronica sparsiflora Raf., 1832

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 : 56

Veronica sparsiflora Raf.

Atlantic Journal 1: 79 ( Rafinesque 1832).

TYPE CITATION. — United States: “ Arkanzas or Texas, received from Prof. Nuttall”.

NEOTYPE (designated here). — P[ P04079138* ].

ISONEOTYPE (designated here). — P[ P04079137* ].

Nomenclatural note. In 1832, Rafinesque published two new species based on plants from Bartram’s Botanic Garden, a then renowned nursery. With regards to V. sparsiflora, Rafinesque (1832) claimed that the plant was an “annual native of Arkanzas or Texas, received from Prof. Nuttall”. Later, Rafinesque (1838) claimed that it is common in “ Arkanzas and Missouri ” and that it belongs to his subgenus Beccabunga . However, Pennell (1921) stated that he did not know any species of Veronica fitting to the description and suggested that it is either a foreign species of the genus or not a Veronica at all. Later, Pennell (1935b) stated that he saw the type specimen in P without typification and concluded that “probably Rafinesque erred as to the source, and his material came from the Old World”. In fact, there are two specimens of the same species fitting to the description of Rafinesque in P. Both have labels with handwriting of Rafinesque based on comparison with photos of Rafinesque’s labels inStuckey (1971b). Both refer to the Atlantic Journal, one claiming that the plant comes from Texas showing a flowering specimen, the other with a fruiting specimen from “ Texas & Arkanzas ”. No further information is available on the specimens. Based on close inspection of the specimens, it is evident that Pennell (1935b) was correct with his reference to the Old World and the specimens belong to V. gentianoides , an ornamental plant from the Caucasus. It is not clear whether the false information on the origin of the plant is the fault of Rafinesque or Bartram’s garden. Since there is no indication of the year, one cannot be sure that the specimens in P were in fact collected before the description of the species and, thus, they are designated as neotypes.