The typification of the Linnaean name Hieracium cerinthoides (Compositae) is discussed. Original material conserved in LINN is designated as the lectotype. An epitype is also designated here in order to avoid any ambiguity in the interpretation of the type specimen.
Introduction
Hieracium cerinthoides L. provides the type of H. sect. Cerinthoidea Monnier (1829: 48), a complex and diverse group of agamospecies inhabiting the W part of the Mediterranean Basin (Mateo 1990, 2008). The name has been, and still is, applied to a glabrescent plant with basal leaves oblanceolate to elliptic, entire or slightly dentate; stem leaves several, usually ovate, amplexicaul; and peduncles and involucral bracts (phyllaries) with scabrid eglandular hairs, stellate hairs and glandular hairs; its distribution is restricted to the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian mountain range (Mateo 2007).
Two other well-known species, and several recently described ones (see below), are very similar in appearance to Hieracium cerinthoides: H. ramondii and H. gymnocerinthe.
Hieracium ramondii Grisebach (1853: 100) lacks glandular hairs (or occasionally has very scattered and short ones) on the peduncles and involucral bracts, but has abundant blackish or greyish scabrid eglandular hairs.
Hieracium gymnocerinthe Arvet-Touvet & Gautier (1904: xlviii) has virtually only glandular hairs (most of them long) on the peduncles and involucral bracts. Some authors have included it as a subspecies in H. cerinthoides (see Zahn 1921: 162), whereas others consider H. cerinthoides as an intermediate species between H. gymnocerinthe and H. ramondii (Mateo 2007, 2008).
As part of the preliminary studies for preparing the Hieracium account for Flora iberica (see Mateo 2007, 2008), the original material of H. cerinthoides, a name that has not yet been typified (Jarvis 2007: 572), has been examined. The present type designation is made with the explicit purpose of stabilizing the use of that name in the sense in which it has been and is being applied.
Typification
Linnaeus's (1753: 803) protologue of Hieracium cerinthoides consists of a diagnostic phrase (nomen specificum legitimum) “HIERACIUM foliis radicalibus obovatis denticulatis, caulinis oblongis semiamplexicaulibus”, reproduced from two earlier, cited works (Royen 1740: 124; Linnaeus 1748: 238), followed by a synonym, “Hieracium pyrenaicum, foliis cerinthes, latifolium”, cited from Tournefort (1700: 472) and the indication of geographical origin “Habitat in Pyrenaeis”.
In the absence of cited illustrations, the entire original material (see Jarvis 2007: 572) consists of the two specimens described below. We have been unable to trace further original material in any other Linnaean and Linnaeus-linked herbarium.
(1) Herb. Linn. No. 954.28 (LINN) (image available at http://linnean-online.org/8846/) is annotated by Linnaeus “18 cerinthoides”, where 18 is the species number that appears in the protologue of Hieracium cerinthoides (Linnaeus 1753: 803) (see Turland & Jarvis 1997; Turland 2006; Jarvis 2007: 41–46, 397); the sheet bears one terminal synflorescence and one fertile side branch, both with ovate, amplexicaul leaves, plus two separate, slightly dentate, oblanceolate, glabrescent basal leaves, all of which may well have been taken from one and the same individual; the stem is subglabrous; the inflorescence branches are hairy; the involucral bracts and peduncles bear abundant glandular and eglandular hairs. This specimen fits the protologue and is compatible with the traditional concept of H. cerinthoides (e.g. Fries 1848; Grisebach 1853; Zahn 1921).
(2) A sheet from Herb. A. van Royen (L No. 900.316-336, barcode L0053099; Fig. 1), annotated by Royen: “Hieracium foliis radicalibus obverse ovatis denticulatis, caulinis oblongis semi-amplexicaulibus Roy. prodr. 124. / Hieracium pyrenaicum, folio cerinthes, latifolium. Tourn. inst. 472. Boerh. lugdb. 1. p. 88. Vaill. act. 1721. p. 184. / Hieracium (cerinthoides) / Herb. v Royen”. It bears a plant (or assemblage) with several basal leaves forming a rosette and a fertile stem (or branch) with two leaves and three flower heads, but with the diagnostically important involucral bracts and receptacles destroyed by insect damage. This specimen is original material, because Linnaeus studied Royen's herbarium during his stay in Leyden, before his return to Sweden in 1738 (see Jarvis 2007: 153).
As the specimen at LINN is more complete and better preserved than the Royen specimen, it is the obvious choice to typify the name Hieracium cerinthoides. However, it lacks some important diagnostic features, such as the basal and middle part of the stem that would be necessary for distinguishing it with confidence from some other closely related species (e.g. H. altaneuense Mateo & Egido, H. cantalicum Arv.-Touv., H. drazeticum Arv.-Touv. & Marcailhou, H. lamprophyllum Scheele and H. trichodoronicum Arv.-Touv. & Gaut.). Therefore, an epitype is here designated, as provided for in Art. 9.8 of the Melbourne Code (McNeill & al. 2012). The epitype selected is a modern, well-prepared specimen with duplicates in several herbaria, from which a DNA sample is being prepared for storage in a DNA bank for enable future molecular studies. It represents the traditional concept (e.g. Fries 1848; Grisebach 1853; Zahn 1921) and current use of the name H. cerinthoides (e.g. Sell & West 1976; Mateo 2007).
Hieracium cerinthoides L., Sp. Pl.: 803. 1753. — Lectotype (designated here): Herb. Linn. No. 954.28 (LINN) (image available at http://linnean-online.org/8846/). — Epitype (designated here): Spain, Lleida: Tredòs (Vall d' Aran), cap al Lac de Baish de Bacivèr, 31TCH3329, datum ED50, 1920 m, 24 Jul 2012, roques calcàries, G. Mateo, J. A. Rosselló, Ll. Sàez & F. del Egido s.n. (VAL barcode VAL210645!; isoepitypes: B!, LEB!, PAL-Gr!, VAL227665!) (for an image of the epitype, see Fig. 2).
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Jesús Riera (Herbarium of the University of Valencia) and Gerard Thijsse and Roxali Bijmoer (National Herbarium Nederland, Leiden University) for their help. Günter Gottschlich (Tübingen) is also thanked for his review of an earlier version of this article.
