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1 December 2005 Systematic notes on the Rubiaceae tribe Spermacoceae. I. The author and the type of the genus Diodella, with comments on tribal delimitation
Robert L. Wilbur
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The genus Diodella of Small is not synonymous with Hedyotis § Diodella as is indicated in Index Nominum Genericorum. The two taxa have different nomenclatural types and belong to different tribes of the Rubiaceae. The first mentioned has a single seed in each locule and the second has many seeds. The stipules and seeds also differ markedly. Consequently the spermacocoid genus Diodella (typified by the type of Diodia rigida) is strongly distinguished from Hedyotis § Diodella [typified by the type of Hedyotis boscii DC. = Oldenlandia boscii (DC.) Chapm.] by many significant morphological features and should not be confused with it. The type of Small's genus Diodella is the type specimen of D. rigida, a perennial species not known to occur in the United States, although mistakenly included by Long and Lakela as well as by Small. The closely related but annual Diodella teres is common and widely distributed throughout much of the eastern United States, Mexico, Central America, and the Greater Antilles as well as tropical South America. The perennial Diodella rigida (= Diodia apiculata K. Schum.) is found in southern Mexico and throughout much of Central America, the Antilles, and northern and eastern South America. Possibly a case could be made for conserving Diodella with a new type—from a species that both occurs in southern Florida and is an annual as specified in the protologue. However, conservation seems both unnecessary and undesirable since there are at least two validly published and available generic names with priority over Diodella.

Robert L. Wilbur "Systematic notes on the Rubiaceae tribe Spermacoceae. I. The author and the type of the genus Diodella, with comments on tribal delimitation," Rhodora 107(932), 408-413, (1 December 2005). https://doi.org/10.3119/05-3.1
Published: 1 December 2005
KEYWORDS
Diodella
Diodia
Hedyotis § Diodella
Rubiaceae: Spermacoceae
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