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(2975) Proposal to conserve the name Sinningia against Paliavana ( Gesneriaceae )

2023; Wiley; Volume: 72; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/tax.13009

1996-8175

Alain Chautems, Mathieu Perret,

Plant and animal studies

(2975) Sinningia Nees in Ann. Sci. Nat. (Paris) 6: 297. Nov 1825 [Gesner.], nom. cons. prop. Typus: S. helleri Nees. (=) Paliavana Vandelli, Fl. Lusit. Bras. Spec.: 40. 1788, nom rej. prop. Typus (vide Moraes in Feddes Repert. 130: 36. 2019): P. sericiflora Benth. Phylogenetic studies (Perret & al. in Amer. J. Bot. 90: 445–460. 2003, in Evolution 61: 1641–1660. 2007; Moeller & Clark in Selbyana 31: 95–125. 2013; Ogutcen & al. in Molec. Phylogen. Evol. 157: 107068. 2021) clearly support the monophyly of the subtribe Ligeriinae (Gesneriaceae) that comprises the genera Sinningia (78 species), Paliavana (6 species) and Vanhouttea (9 species) (Weber & al. in Selbyana 31: 68–94. 2013; Araujo & al. in Flora e Funga do Brasil [https://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/FB7879, accessed 2 May 2023]; Chautems & Perret in Candollea 77: 137–144. 2022). These genera occur mostly in Brazil and have been traditionally distinguished based on their growth habit, with Sinningia producing annual shoots arising from a basal perennial tuber, whereas Paliavana (with flowers belonging to bee or bat syndrome) and Vanhouttea (with flowers belonging to hummingbird syndrome) are shrubs or subshrubs without tubers (Perret & al., l.c. 2007; Chautems & al. in Palmengarten 85: 108–117. 2021; Araujo & al., l.c.). However, the habit is not fully consistent at the generic level since a few Sinningia species like S. gesneriifolia, S. reitzii or S. mauroana lack tubers and possess a shrubby habit with lignified perennial stem as in Paliavana and Vanhouttea. Phylogenetic analyses including most known species of Ligeriinae have shown that Paliavana and Vanhouttea are not monophyletic, but are split into several distinct clades that are embedded within a paraphyletic Sinningia (Perret & al., l.c. 2003, 2007; Roalson & Robert in Syst. Biol. 65: 662–684. 2016; Serrano-Serrano & al. in Proc. Roy. Soc. London, Ser. B, Biol. Sci. 284: 20162816. 2017). These results indicate that a taxonomic revision is needed to redefine the generic boundaries within the Ligeriinae. Merging the three genera into an expanded Sinningia genus would be the most pragmatic solution because of the lack of clear morphological synapomorphies that could be used to recognize generic status for each of the major clades identified in the phylogenetic analyses (Perret & al., l.c. 2003). This expanded Sinningia circumscription is coherent with the broad morphological diversity observed in the genus, with plants varying from diminutive herbs 1–2.5 cm tall to shrubs 1–2 m tall bearing flowers 4–6 mm to 4–6 cm long that display a vast array of colors and shapes following adaptations to pollination by various groups of bees, butterflies, moths, hummingbirds and bats (Chautems & al., l.c.; Perret & al., l.c. 2007). Under this scenario of monogeneric recircumscription of Ligeriinae, the name Paliavana established in 1788 has priority over Sinningia published in 1825, whereas Vanhouttea described in 1845 is posterior to both these generic names. Paliavana was proposed without any indication of species (Vandelli, Fl. Lusit. Bras. Spec.: 40, t. 3, fig. 17. 1788). Domenico Vandelli based his description on watercolor drawings produced from original materials of plants sent from Brazil to Portugal by Joaquim Vellozo de Miranda. Moraes (in Feddes Repert. 130: 21, fig. 1C and 35, fig. 5D. 2019) reproduced the engraving published by Vandelli and replicated an original watercolor drawing by José Joaquim da Silva that is part of manuscripts kept at the National Museum of Natural History and Science – Lisbon University, Portugal. Moraes (l.c.: 36) attributed these Paliavana illustrations to P. sericiflora Benth. based on Araujo & al. (in Revista Brasil. Bot. 28: 109–135. 2005). This species is endemic to the Cadeia do Espinhaço mountain range in Minas Gerais, where Joaquim Vellozo de Miranda very likely collected the above cited materials during his stay in Ouro Preto in the early 1780s (Moraes, l.c.: 25). The Cadeia do Espinhaço runs north and south of Ouro Preto and it is interesting to note that the two other Gesneriaceae taxa described by Vandelli in the same work (l.c.: 41, t. 3, fig. 18, 19) under the new genus name Orobanchia (nowadays Nematanthus lanceolatus (Poiret) Chautems and N. strigillosus (Mart.) H.E. Moore) are still found growing in the same area as P. sericiflora. The application of the name P. sericiflora Benth. was firmly established by Turner (in Ann. Bot. Fenn. 53: 291. 2016) through the lectotypification on the Kew specimen K000648278, a Sellow collection part of Herbarium Benthamianum, originally gathered in Minas Gerais in the Serra da Piedade, which is part of the Cadeia do Espinhaço. Moraes (l.c.) designated P. sericiflora as the type of the generic name based on this species being endemic to Minas Gerais and on the striking identity between Silva's drawing and the plant Vandelli (l.c.: 40) described and illustrated. Adopting the older name Paliavana for a monogeneric Ligeriinae would imply publishing 78 new combinations, whereas only 14 recombinations would be necessary if Sinningia is conserved. We believe that the conservation of the name Sinningia will serve stability and avoid disadvantageous nomenclatural changes (Art. 14.1 of the ICN; Turland & al. in Regnum Veg. 159. 2018). With many taxa commercially introduced in cultivation, Sinningia also deserves preservation (Chautems & al., l.c.; Hodgson in Pl. Rev. 3(4): 40–45. 2021). We therefore propose that Sinningia be conserved against Paliavana. AC, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0086-1623 MP, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2021-114X This work was partly supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Grant no. 31003A_175655 to MP.