Taxonomic and nomenclatural inventory of the Umbelliferae in Central Asia, described on the basis of collections of the National Herbarium of Uzbekistan

The National Herbarium of Uzbekistan (TASH) in Tashkent is the oldest and largest botanical collection not only in Uzbekistan, but also in the entire region of Central Asia. The article presents a complete inventory of the type material of Umbelliferae taxa stored in the National Herbarium of Uzbekistan (TASH), as well as some key events of the TASH history and its main personalities. The herbarium in its current state is a result of merging of seven Uzbekistanian herbaria. TASH played a special role in the studies of Central Asian Umbelliferae (Apiaceae). TASH currently holds type specimens of 130 taxa of Umbelliferae, including 125 species and 5 intraspecific taxa (according to the ranks proposed in protologues). The TASH Umbelliferae type collection contains holotypes of 82 taxa, lectotypes of 36 taxa, isolectotypes of 22 taxa, syntypes of 15 taxa, and isotypes of 19 taxa. The names of 54 taxa have been preserved in the modern nomenclature of the Umbelliferae, whereas the names of 46 and 33 taxa are now considered as nomenclatural and taxonomic synonyms. Four lectotypes are designated here

Taxonomic notes on some Styrax (Styracaceae) species from Brazil

Taxonomic issues regarding three species of Styrax ser. Valvatae in Brazil are addressed. Styrax bahiensis, a new species from Bahia state, northeastern Brazil, is described and illustrated. It is similar to S. pallidus in its leaves of similar size and anther thecae that exceed the connective, but differs by coriaceous leaf blades with a revolute margin, leaf domatia up to 0.7 mm long and flat or rarely slightly bulging, a yellow- or orange-stellate-tomentulose calyx abaxially, and spreading corolla lobes. The species is known only from the type collection gathered over 50 years ago. Styrax griseus is placed in synonymy under S. kuhlmannii, a species from central Brazil, and a lectotype is provided for S. kuhlmannii. An updated description and estimate of the geographic distribution of S. pauciflorus are provided, as well as a lectotype and conservation assessment for this species.

The Cecidomyiidae (Insecta: Diptera) type collection of Museu Nacional/UFRJ (Brazil) / A coleção de tipos de Cecidomyiidae (Insecta: Diptera) do Museu Nacional/UFRJ (Brasil)

A coleção do Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro compreende tipos de 50 gêneros e 129 espécies de Cecidomyiidae (Diptera). Inclui material proveniente, principalmente, da Mata Atlântica e também do Cerrado, Floresta Amazônica e Caatinga. Além de espécies brasileiras, a coleção possui tipos de duas espécies do Peru, Dasineura theobromae Maia, 2006 e Heterodiplosis peruviana Maia, 2010. A coleção de tipos de Cecidomyiidae do Museu Nacional é uma das mais diversificadas e importantes no Brasil e pode ser considerada uma coleção de referência para estudos taxonômicos da fauna Neotropical.

Lectotypification of Chamaecyparis hodginsii of the Cupressaceae

Recent phylogenetic studies have suggested that the monotypic Fokienia A.Henry & H.H.Thomas is nested within Chamaecyparis Spach, which is in agreement with separate morphological studies. Here the authors confirm a previous taxonomic treatment that incorporated Fokienia hodginsii (Dunn) A.Henry & H.H.Thomas into Chamaecyparis based on the monophyly requirement of taxonomy, i.e. Chamaecyparis hodginsii (Dunn) Rushforth. In addition, the type collection of the basionym Cupressus hodginsii Dunn was found to contain three sheets of specimens, one in K including a vegetative branch (K000088294) and a separate ovulate cone (K001090486), a second one in A (A00022477), and a third one in IBSC (IBSC0016081). All three specimens are marked with Hongkong Herbarium No. 3505, but only the two specimens in K and IBSC possess similar handwriting of “Cupressus hodginsii Dunn”. The two specimens should be considered as syntypes according to the Shenzhen Code. The specimen in K is better preserved but it is a mixture according to the collection label: cones from Foochow (Fuzhou) and foliage from Yenping (Nanping). We lectotypified the name Cupressus hodginsii with K000088294 because the specimen is well preserved and has enough characters for identification. Moreover, an ovulate cone (K001090486) is on the same sheet.

Two noteworthy ramicolous liverworts from Mount Roraima, Guyana: Frullania trigona and Metzgeria deniseana sp. nov.

Mount Roraima, at the geographical tripoint of Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela, is famous for its richness in rare and endemic species. Here we report two unusual ramicolous liverwort species from the north ridge of the mountain, located within the borders of the country of Guyana: Frullania (sect. Microphyllae) trigona and Metzgeria deniseana sp. nov. Frullania section Microphyllae is a group of ten species within subgenus Frullania, distributed in eastern Asia, Europe and tropical America, and characterized by the small dioicous plants with ocelli, caducous leaf lobes and tiny underleaves. Frullania trigona is one of the rarest species of the section and was only known from the type collection from Guadeloupe. It is recognized by the obclavate lobules with a very small mouth, leaf margins with protruding whitish trigones and the presence of a huge attachment cell at the dorsal leaf bases. The latter two features are unusual in Frullania and are unique to F. trigona. Metzgeria deniseana is a new member of the genus Metzgeria with saccate thallus lobes (= former genus Austrometzgeria) and stands out by the very irregular shaped sacs, varying from subglobose to strongly elongate, thallus margins with a wide and ill-defined border, and strongly convex gemmae with revolute margins. The discovery of Frullania trigona and Metgeria deniseana adds two further noteworthy species to the rich liverwort flora of Mount Roraima.

Critical review of the nomenclature and taxonomy of Sorghastrum canescens (Poaceae: Panicoideae: Andropogoneae), an endemic Brazilian species

Some taxonomic groups impose the need to use continuous morphological characteristics in taxon delimitation, and the grass genus Sorghastrum is a clear case of this necessity. Sorghastrum canescens was described based on the length of its awns. However, insufficient and scattered sampling has obscured the identity of this species for at least 137 years, while it was considered synonym of S. incompletum var. incompletum. In this study we evaluate statistical differences in the original and current morphological concepts of S. canescens using analysis of variance and posterior pairwise comparison of means and medians. We also retrieved the nomenclatural history of the binomial S. canescens to clarify possible errors in the synonymization of this species. All the statistical evidence refutes the hypothesis that S. canescens is a synonym of S. incompletum var. incompletum. Historical data revealed an error in the identification of the correct basionym of S. canescens and this error has been repeated in several taxonomic revisions. We were also able to establish an approximate date for the type-collection of S. canescens. We therefore propose the reestablishment of the name Sorghastrum canescens and provide morphological descriptions and illustration of this species.

An annotated type catalogue of the centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda) held in the Zoological Museum Hamburg

Centipedes (Myriapoda: Chilopoda) are carnivorous arthropods that live in leaf litter and soil habitats on all continents except Antarctica. Roughly 3,300 species have been described to date but the taxonomy is still progressing and requires a thorough documentation of type material and type deposits. In this paper we provide an annotated catalogue of the centipede type collection at the Zoological Museum (ZMH) in Hamburg. This collection comprises 490 type specimens belonging to 141 taxa originally described as species, subspecies and varieties. More than half of these taxa were described by the pioneering myriapodologists Carl Graf Attems (Vienna) and Karl Kraepelin (Hamburg). The collection includes material representing 93 valid species or subspecies and contains specimens predominantly from Australia (33%), Asia (22%), Africa (20%) and South America (20%). Taxonomically, the focus is on the centipede orders Scolopendromorpha (56 valid species) and Geophilomorpha (28 valid species) with fewer types for the Lithobiomorpha (8 species). A total of 48 taxa (34% of type species) have been synonymized since they were originally described and the type material for 12 additional species at the ZMH is lost. We provide a brief historical overview of this collection from its origin at the Museum Godeffroy and the Johanneum in Hamburg, including the most relevant taxonomists and collectors, followed by an annotated taxonomic catalogue with details on all species that are or were represented by type material.

Lectotypification of Sematophyllum latifolium, a new synonym of Wijkia surcularis (Pylaisiadelphaceae, Bryophyta)

Sematophyllum latifolium Brotherus (1911: 362), known only from the type collection, was originally described by Brotherus (1911) based on a collection made by C.C. Hosseus from Mt. Doi Suthep (Doi Sutäp), in northern Thailand. Pollawatn (2008) revised the family Sematophyllaceae s.l. in Thailand but did not see the type specimen of S. latifolium. During the study of Hosseus’s collections, however, we found two duplicates of type specimens of S. latifolium one located in H-BR and one in M. We found that several critical features of S. latifolium, such as the 1) irregular-pinnately branching habit with the erect flagelliform branches (Fig. 1A), 2) stem and branch leaves strongly differentiated (Fig. 1B−F), and 3) brotherelloid type alar cells often divided into larger hyaline cells towards leaf margins (Fig. 1G), were indistinguishable from those in the type material of Wijkia surcularis (Mitten 1859: 112) Crum (1971: 173), a common species found growing from India to Indochina (Gangulee 1980; Tan & Iwatsuki 1993; Tan & Jia 1999; Jia et al. 2005). Thus, we here propose S. latifolium as a new synonym of W. sucularis. In the protologue, Brotherus (1911) did not designate the holotype, therefore, it is necessary to select a lectotype for S. latifolium ((see Art. 9.11 of the Shenzhen Code (Turland et al. 2017)). We designate Hosseus’s collection (Hosseus s.n.) in H-BR (H) as the lectotype of the name S. latifolium.

Lectotypification of Tsuga longibracteata W.C.Cheng (Pinaceae)

W.C.Cheng did not clearly indicate the herbarium repository of the type specimen (Y.Tsiang 7712) when he described Tsuga longibracteata W.C.Cheng. Later, researchers suggested that the type is either in NAS or in PE. However, we found more than one duplicate of the type collection in both NAS and PE. Following the Shenzhen Code, we lectotypify the name T. longibracteata with Y.Tsiang 7712 (PE00003223) that bears a handwritten identification of W.C.Cheng.

Rediscovery of Sarcopyramis subramanii Nayar (Melastomataceae) 94 years after type collection from India

Sarcopyramis subramanii Nayar (Melastomataceae) has only been collected once in India, from the Lushai Hills in Mizoram state in 1926. We found this species 94 years after the collection of the type material. We present a detailed taxonomic description, photographs, and a map of the distribution of this species. A comparison of S. subramanii with the allied S. nepalensis Wall. is provided to facilitate its identification.