Armeria macropoda Boiss.

Armeria macropoda Boiss. View in CoL in DC., Prodr 12: 688. 1848.

Lectotype (designated here):— ITALY. Campania, Montevergine et Monte Terminio in Principato Ultra s.d., Gussone s.n. (G00390387!, https://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/chg/adetail.php?id=612957&base=img).

Boissier (1848: 688) described Armeria macropoda by providing a detailed description and citing the following synonym: “ A. scorzonerifolia Ten. syll. non Willd.”. The name A. scorzonerifolia was misapplied by Tenore (1831) to a plant occurring on Montevergine and Matese massif (southern Apennines). Boissier (1848) cited, as type localities for A. macropoda , “monte Vergine et Terminio regni Neapolitani (Guss.!)”. This citation refers to two different localities, as Montevergine and Mt. Terminio are two mounts in separate massifs in the province of Avellino (roughly the former “Principato ultra”, Campania region, southern Italy). Boissier (1848) also reported “v.s. [vidi siccus] comm. ab. amiciss. Guss.!” (“I examined the specimen(s) sent by the great friend Gussone”). Therefore, the specimens from Montevergine and Mt. Terminio cited in the protologue are syntypes according to Art. 9.6 of the ICN. However, we traced at G-BOISS (barcode G00390387) only one specimen bearing a complete plant (from root to inflorescence) and the following labels: “ Statice alliacea ? | Montevergine et Monte Terminio in Principato Ultra ” (Gussone handwriting) and “ Arm. macropoda ” (Boissier handwriting). For this reason, we cannot establish the exact locality of this specimen, which, in any case, is original material for the name A. macropoda and originated from “Principato ultra”. Further five specimens by Gussone, collected in Montevergine (four) or Mt. Terminio (one) before the description of the species, are preserved on separate sheets in NAP (Collection “Gussone Generale”). Nevertheless, it cannot be established if one of them belongs to the same gathering of G00390387, so that the latter specimen remains the only known syntype. No apparent difference in leaf features is detectable. We select G00390387 as the lectotype of the name Armeria macropoda . By comparing with plants sampled by us in Monte Terminio (PI), the lectotype morphologically well agrees particularly with plants originating from this population, so that the original source locality for the lectotype could be possibly Monte Terminio. The lectotype also agrees with the current application of the name ( Arrigoni 2015).

Statice nebrodensis Guss., Fl. Sic. Syn. 1: 366. 1842.

≡ Armeria nebrodensis (Guss.) Boiss. in DC., Prodr. 12: 685. 1848.

Lectotype (designated here):— ITALY. Sicily, s.d., Gussone s.n. (G00440380!, http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/chg/adetail. php?id=302799&lang=en).

Gussone (1842: 366) provided a description, provenance and collector (“In aridis apricis montosis: Madonie sopra Petralia, ed al Cuozzo del Predicatore: alla Colma grande, allo Sferru, ed alla Serra del soglio (Parlatore) ”), and the synonyms: “ Armeria alpina Guss. pr. 1. p. 378, non Willd. ” ( Gussone 1827), “ Statice armeria . Ucria H. Pan. P. 145 non Lin. ” ( Ucria 1789: 145), and “Armerius montanus, minor, Cast. H. Mess. p. 4 ” ( Castelli 1640: 4).

Three specimens were traced at G (G00440380), K (K000704661, https://plants.jstor.org/stable/viewer/10.5555/ al.ap.specimen.k000704661?loggedin=true), and NAP (without barcode). G00440380 bears a Boissier label (with the following four names: “ Armeria Nebrodensis guss. | Statice Nebrodensis guss. Synops. | Statice alpina guss . Prodr. non W [Willdenow] | Statice heterophylla Wallroth. ”)], a Gussone label (“ Armeria alpina | Gussone ”), a Laurence identification (“ A. sardoa var. nebrodensis (Guss.) Parl. | Goe. H. M. Laurence 12-I-1951 ”), and a label referring to Boissier’s Flora Orientalis (“Conservatori botanique, Genève | Herbier BOISSIER, séries n’ayant pas servi à la rédaction du Flora Orientalis ”). K000704661 has the label “Herbarium Parlatoreanum 1847 | Armeria nebrodensis Parl. | Sicilia ”. The NAP specimen bears three original Gussone labels reporting the provenance (“ Madonie al Cuozzo de Suvareddi ”, “ Madonie ”, and “ In aridis apricis montosis ”) and the months of collection [“Majo” (= May) and “Giugno” (= June)]. Only the G specimen can be considered as part of the original material, bearing the Gussone label “ Armeria alpina | Gussone ”, a name which was included in the protologue; this means that the specimen was certainly seen by Gussone before the publication of Statice nebrodensis . K000704661 was collected after the publication date (1847 vs. 1842), whereas no date of collection appears at the NAP specimen. G00440380 is selected as the lectotype of the name Statice nebrodensis . The lectotype fits the original description and corresponds to the current application of the name to an accepted species ( Domina 2011 +) endemic to the Madonie mountains in northern Sicily.

Armeria plantaginea Willd., Enum. Pl. View in CoL : 334. 1809.

= Armeria alliacea (Cav.) Hoffmanns. & Link, Gl. Portug. View in CoL 1: 441. 1813–1820. ≡ Statice alliacea Cav., Icon. View in CoL 2: 6. 1793.

Lectotype (designated here):—In Europa australi, s.d., s.coll. s.n. (B-W06164-020!).

Willdenow (1809: 334) described Armeria plantaginea by providing a diagnosis and a provenance. Two specimens of A. plantaginea are housed in the Herbarium Willdenow in B (B-W06164-010 bearing two flowering stems and BW06164-020 bearing five flowering stems) within a single folder (B-W06164-000) bearing the locality “In Europa Australi”. Although the collection date is lacking, the presence of Willdenow handwriting allows to consider these specimens as original material, as already done in other cases (see e.g., Iamonico 2020). Both specimens fit the description and belong to the same taxon. We select the more complete specimen B-W06164-020 as lectotype. The type fits the original description and allows to confirm that A. plantaginea is a later heterotypic synonym of the western European A. alliacea (Cavanilles 1793: 6) Hoffmannsegg & Link (1813–1820: 441) ( Domina 2011 +, Malekmohammadi et al. 2024), which actually does not occur in Italy (see also the discussion under the following name).

Statice plantaginea All., Fl. Pedem. 2: 90. 1785.

= Armeria arenaria subsp. praecox (Jord. ex Boreau) Kerguélen ex Greuter, Burdet & G.Long, Med-Checkl. 4: 309 (1989)

= Armeria alliacea subsp. praecox (Jord. ex Boreau) Jovet & R.Vilm. View in CoL in Bailly & al., Fl. Descr. France, Suppl. 4: 410 (1977)

Lectotype (designated here):— Statice plantaginea View in CoL in All., Iconographia Taurinensis IX: tab. 96. ( Fig. 1c View FIGURE 1 ).

In the protologue, Allioni (1785: 90) referenced table 96 of the volume IX of his Iconographia Taurinensis, table 42 of Jacquin’s Hortus Botanicus Vindobonensis ( Jacquin 1770), and Statice lusitanica Scorzonerae folio in Tournefort (1700). Two localities (“In vallis Locanae montibus, atque inter Lance, & Viù nascitur”) are also reported. The illustration by Allioni is part of the original material for Statice plantaginea . We traced at TO, where Allioni’s herbarium is preserved (HUH-Index of Botanists 2013-onwards), one specimen bearing a plant and the following label: “HERBARIUM ALLIONI [printed] | Statice armeria major Jacq. [Allioni handwriting]”. Although this specimen was seen by Allioni, no information is reported in the label, especially concerning locality and collection date. Specimens lacking collection data and/or locality could be considered as possible lectotypes if, e.g., Allioni annotated the word “ nobis ” or “ N. ”, as occurred, for instance, in Plantago serpentina All. (see Di Pietro et al. 2013). In this case, we cannot safely consider the specimen at TO as original material. The illustration cited in the protologue (“ tab. 96 ”) is available, and matches the original description, so that it is here selected as the lectotype of the name Statice plantaginea . The type falls within the current concept of A. arenaria subsp. praecox ( Tiburtini et al. 2022) , specifically by the long sheaths, rose-pale petals in medium size capitula and dull green leaves, albeit important characteristic such as the length of the intermediate scales cannot be appreciated. Notably, S. plantaginea is the oldest name available applying to this systematic unit. However, this name cannot be transferred under the genus Armeria at species level, since in this genus the same epithet is already used in the heterotypic A. plantaginea Willdenow (1809: 334) . Also at subspecies level, the name originally published by Allioni does not hold priority, since the first name used at this rank under Armeria is A. alliacea subsp. praecox ( Jordan ex Boreau 1857: 537) Jovet & Vilmorin (1977: 410), while A. alliacea subsp. plantaginea ( Allioni 1785: 90) Bolòs & Vigo (1979: 30) was published two years later. We also remark that, differently from the report by Domina (2011 +), after typification the name by Allioni is not related with A. alliacea (as instead the name by Willdenow does) but refers instead to A. arenaria . Consequently, the occurrence in Italy of A. alliacea ( Domina 2011 +) is wrong, and due to a misapplication of the name by Allioni.

Statice pungens Link, J. Bot. View in CoL 1: 60. 1800.

≡ Armeria pungens (Link) Hoffmanns. & Link, Fl. Portug. View in CoL 1: 439. 1813.

Lectotype (designated here):— PORTUGAL. 94. Statice pungens Link / ex Lusitania ab ipso misa (MA-01-00174257!; Fig. 1d View FIGURE 1 ).

Despite this name is often referred to Brotero (1804: 487) (see e.g., Malekmohammadi et al. 2024, POWO 2024, WFO 2024), actually it was first described by Link (1800: 60) four years earlier, as already highlighted by Nieto Feliner (1990). In the protologue, a description and the provenance (“in den sandigen Gegenden zwischen Capo Espichel und Porto Brandano”) are provided. Despite most of Link collections in B were destroyed during World War II, a specimen of Statice pungens is conserved in MA (MA-01-00174257) and can be considered as original material. Indeed, this specimen was sent by Link to Cavanilles in January 1799 (see Medina & Aedo 2022). The lectotype fits the original description and corresponds to the current application of the name ( Nieto Feliner 1990, Domina 2011 +) to a sand-dune coastal species widespread in the western Mediterranean, from Portugal to Sardinia ( Piñeiro et al. 2007, 2011).