Arachnites biancae Tod., Orchid. Sicul.

Pasta, Salvatore, Troia, Angelo, Rosa, Alfonso La & Scafidi, Filippo, 2025, Typification of the names of three Sicilian endemic Orchidaceae published by Agostino Todaro, Phytotaxa 693 (2), pp. 157-165 : 158-159

1. Arachnites biancae Tod., Orchid. Sicul. : 83–85. 1842.

≡ Ophrys biancae (Tod.) Macch., Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital. 13: 315. 1881 ≡ Ophrys fuciflora var. biancae (Tod.) E.G.Camus, Iconogr. Orchid. Europe 1: 311. 1928 ≡ Ophrys holosericea subsp. biancae (Tod.) Faurh. & H.A.Pedersen, Orchidee (Hamburg) 53: 345. 2002 ≡ Ophrys oxyrhynchos subsp. biancae (Tod.) Galesi, Cristaudo & Maugeri, J. Eur. Orch. 36: 506. 2004 ≡ Ophrys fuciflora subsp. biancae (Tod.) Faurh., Ber. Arbeitskr. Heim. Orch. 22(2): 7. 2006.

= Ophrys ×anapi O.Danesch & E.Danesch, Orchid. Eur. Ophrys-Hybriden : 227. 1972

‒ Ophrys discors Bianca in Tod., Orchid. Sicul.: 84. 1842 nom. nud. (Art. 38.1 of ICN);

‒ Ophrys discors Bianca in Giorn. Gab. Lett. Accad. Gioenia, VII(1): 54. 1842 nom. illeg. (Art. 52 of ICN) ≡ Ophrys oxyrhynchos var. discors (Bianca) Lojac., Fl. Sicul. 3: 40. 1909 comb. illeg. ≡ Ophrys fuciflora var. discors (Bianca) Soó, Fedde, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 24: 26. 1927 comb. illeg.

Diagnosis (from the protologue):— Arachnites perigonii laciniis exterioribus ovato-lanceolatis patentibus, binis interioribus gynostemio subincurvo, et breviter rostrato acuminato subduplo brevioribus, ovatis, acutis, in pagina superiore villosiusculis, labello obovato, pseudo-trilobo, in disco glabriusculo, lineolis maculisque polymorphis inscripto, in ambitu holosericeo, lobis lateralibus adnatis, abbreviatis, velutinis, basi gibbere conico, obtuso, extus villoso, intus ad axillas glabro instructis, medio obsolete bilobo, in appendicula inflexa late-obovata terminato.

Ind. Loc.: — [SICILY] “Habitat in collibus, pratis et pascuis, et in lapidosis demissis Siciliae meridionalis. Habui ex collibus di Avola ab amicissimo Bianca”.

Lectotype (here designated): — [SICILY] Arachnites biancae Tod. Orchid. Sic. p. 83, in collibus, Avola, Aprili, Bianca [manu A. Todaro] (PAL87806! https://herbarium.unipa.it/zoomify/view_img.asp?ic=87806).

The specimen PAL87806, selected for typification, was collected by Bianca. The herbarium sheet bears two inflorescences and a sachet containing three mature capsules; two labels also occur, one handwritten by Todaro (“ Arachnites biancae Tod. Orchid. Sic. p. 83, in collibus Avola, Aprili, Bianca ”), the second written by M. Lojacono-Pojero (“non differisce dall’ oxyrhynchos Tod. ” [= it does not differ from (Ophrys) oxyrhynchos Tod. ]). Although there is no clear evidence regarding the date of its collection, the specimen PAL87806 can be considered as original material because Todaro himself refers to it in the protologue ( Todaro 1842) (see above, “Ind. Loc.”). PAL87806 matches the protologue and corresponds to the current application of the name (e.g. Delforge 2016, Grünanger 2017, Kreutz 2024) by showing key diagnostic traits such as trapezoidal labellum and marked gibbae.

Note:—The epithet refers to Giuseppe Bianca, Sicilian agronomist and botanist, friend of Todaro and author of the work “ Flora dei dintorni di Avola ” [= Flora of the surroundings of Avola ], dedicated to the surroundings of his hometown, located in southeastern Sicily. According to Todaro (1842) Bianca was the one who found and sent him some specimens of this orchid, proposing the binomial Ophrys discors in a letter (not found by us) accompanying those samples. As Gussone (1845: 548) already pointed out, this epithet, reported by Todaro (1842) as a “nomen nudum” (“ Ophrys discors Bianca in litteris!”), should be considered illegitimate, since Bianca himself (1842) listed as synonym the just (already) published Arachnites biancae Tod. , when describing it. Regarding the use of the spelling “ oxyrhynchos ” in the combination accepted here for the concerned name, see below.

Note:—From a morphological point of view, Ophrys oxyrhynchos subsp. biancae ( Fig. 1 ) is close to O. oxyrhynchos subsp. oxyrhynchos , from which it differs by the colour of the sepals and tepals which are white to green and bear a greenish midvein; the size of the flowers, which are smaller; the shape and the colour of the labellum, which is sub-quadrangular and convex, red in the central part and often with a more or less wide yellow margin, with two small rounded gibbae, and the smaller speculum ( Grünanger 2017) . It is a slender plant, about 15–25 cm tall, flowering between March and April. Endemic to Sicily, it grows in garrigues, xeric grasslands, forest clearings and fringes, between 50 and 800 m elevation, mostly on base-rich soils. Never observed on Peloritani Mts. (NE Sicily), this taxon occurs in the rest of the island, being more common near Palermo and on the Hyblaean Plateau.

Additional specimens examined:

a) “ Ophrys discors Bianca / in collibus, et in demissis herbosis ( Avola ) / Aprili–Majo / Bianca” [manu Bianca] and/ “da Bianca in Marzo 1858 ” [manu Parlatore?] (FI007073).

b) The specimen NAP0003684 consists of a floral scape bearing the label “ Ophrys discors Bianca ! Ophrys oxyrhynchos var. ex ipso / in pl.[?] p. 14” [manu Gussone]; on a second label on which is fixed a single flower we read “ Ophrys discors Nob. ” [manu Bianca].

c)The specimen NAP0003687 is a drawing made by Bianca himself, as testified by two accompanying labels, where we read “ Ophrys discors Nob. dis.[egnato] in proprio” [manu Bianca] and “ic. ex ipso Bianca” [manu Gussone].

Figures

FIGURE 1. Photo of Ophrys oxyrhynchos subsp. biancae, taken at Cugno di Canne, municipality of Floridia, province of Siracusa on March 30, 2019 (photo by A. La Rosa).