19631 



BOTANY OF THE GUAYANA HIGHLANDS PART V 



277 



Schradera vahlii Steyermark, nom. nov. 



Urceolaria exotica Gmel. Syst. Nat. 2: 390. 1791; Standi. N. Am. Fl. 32(2): 132. 1921 

 [excl. syn.] 



Schradera capitata Vahl [excl. syn.] Eclog. Am. 1: 35. t. 5. 1796. 

 Schradera exotica (J.F.Gmel.) Standi. Field Mus. Bot. 4: 286. 1929. 

 Urceolaria capitata (Vahl) Fritsch, Oesterr. Bot. Zeits. 44: 288. 1894. 



In citing Fuchsia involucrata Sw. in synonymy, Vahl's name, Schradera 

 capitata, must be considered superfluous, and, therefore, rejected (Art. 63, p. 49. 

 International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature). Urceolaria exotica Gmel. (Syst. 

 Nat. 2: 390. 1791) was published without description or with indication of origin, 

 and has been accepted as a taxonomic synonym (Taxon 9: 118. April-May, 

 1960). It cannot be applied definitely to an existing taxon. Although Standi ey 

 (N. Am. Fl. 32(2) : 132. 1921) used the name Urceolaria exotica to apply to 

 the Lesser Antillean Schradera capitata Vahl, with Montserrat (type locality 

 of Schradera capitata) indicated as the type locality, his treatment included 

 two other taxa, mentioned in synonymy, i.e. Schradera brasiliensis Mart, and 

 S. cephalophora Griseb. As both the Brazilian S. brasiliensis and the Cuban 

 S. cephalophora are distinct taxa that can be separated from the Lesser Antillean 

 8. capitata, Standley's usage of Urceolaria exotica perpetuates an uncertain 

 name which includes at least three taxa. 



Urceolaria exotica Gmel. is therefore judged to be a nomen confusum, having 

 been used by Standley to include at least three taxa. According to article 69 of 

 the International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature, which is here invoked to 

 apply to the present case, "a name must be rejected if it is used in different 

 senses and so has become a long-persistent source of error.'' 



Vahl's plate of Schradera capitata and his description of this taxon (exclud- 

 ing synonymy) fit the taxon encountered in the Lesser Antilles, Dominican 

 Republic, and Puerto Rieo. Vahl's plate shows the leaves obtuse at the apex, 

 acutish at the base, with 6-7 lateral nerves, the interior of the corolla-tube 

 pubescent, and the refiexed euenllate appendage of the corolla-lobe at some 

 distance from the apex. Specimens in NY from the Lesser Antillean islands of 

 Guadeloupe, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, St. Nevis, and Martinique, and from the 

 Dominican Republic, and Porto Rico, fit the description and plate of Schradera 

 capitata. Although no material has been examined from the island of Montserrat, 

 type locality for Schradera capitata, the specimen of H. H. & G. TV. Smith 1741, 

 collected on the island of St. Vincent, is a good match for the plate of S. 

 capitata. 



Vahl described S. capitata (loc. cit. p. 35) as having leaves "apice obtusa, 

 basi parum acutiora." This variation of the species with the leaves obtuse at the 

 apex is the one most frequently encountered. The base of the leaf -blade in the 

 common variation usually varies from rounded or obtuse to subacute. Rarely, 

 however, the apex may become acute to subacuminate, while the base of the 

 leaf-blade is acute to subacute. This latter variation has been found on the island 

 of Dominica and may be indicated as Schradera vahlii var. acutifolia Steyer- 

 mark, var. nov. 



A var. vahlii foliorum laminis anguste ellipticis vel lanceolato- vel oblongo- 

 ellipticis 5.5-10 cm longis 2-4.8 cm latis apice plerumque acutis vel subacu- 

 minatis interdum obtusis basi acutis vel subacuminatis. 



DOMINICA. Vicinity of Fresh Water Lake, near Laudat ; edge of low forest ; 

 alt. 450-600 m ; epiphytic shrub ; corolla white ; 26 Mar 1956, A. C. Smith 10289 



