Phytoneuron

i Mucronea (Polygonaceae: Eriogoneae). Phytoneuron 201 2-]

ON THE VALIDATION OF CHORIZANTHE AND MUCRONEA
(POLYGONACEAE: ERIOGONEAE)

James L. Reveal

L.H. Bailey Hortorium

Department of Plant Biology

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-4301

jlr326@comell.edu

ABSTRACT

Traditionally Chorizanthe R. Br. ex Benth. and Muronea Benth. (Polygonaceae: Eriogoneae)
were considered to have been published in the third part of volume 17 of the Transactions of the
Linnean Society sometime between 21 June and 9 July 1836. In fact both names were validly
published earlier, initially in May of 1835 in the London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and
Journal of Science, and again on 7 June 1836 in the journal Flora. No species were assigned to either
genus until Bentham's paper on Eriogoneae was published in mid-1836.

KEY WORDS: nomenclature, George Bentham, Transactions of the Linnean Society, London and
Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine

While assembling a new and updated bibliography on Polygonaceae Juss. trib. Eriogoneae
Dumort, it was discovered that Chorizanthe R. Br. ex Benth. and Mucronea Benth. were validated in
a review of the 7 April 1835 meeting the Linnean Society of London (Brewster et al. 1835) in which
George Bentham presented a paper entitled "On the Eriogoneae, a lri.be of the order Polygoneae." As
may be seen from the dates given on the first page of individual signatures; as well as the subsequently
published table of contents, this notice was published in the May 1835 issue (pages 321-400) of the
London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, or about a month after the
meeting. On page 379 the following appears in part of that review:

The group [Eriogoneae] consists of three genera, namely, Eriogonum distinguished by its many-
flowered involucrum; Chorizanthe, a genus proposed by Mr. Brown, and distinguished from the former by
having a single-flowered involucrum; and lastly. Mucronea, characterized by its bidentate involucrum,
composed of two confluent bractes.

This same notice was reproduced almost word-for-word later (Beilschmied 1836) in the
journal Flora (19: 332. 7 Jun 1836):

Diese Gruppe [Eriogoneae] besteht aus 3 Gattungen: Eriogonum, durch vielbluthige Hulle
ausgezeichnet; Chorizanthe RBr., n.g., deren nur einbliithiges Involucrum sie von Eriogonum unterscheidet,
und Mucronea, welche sich durch ein aus zwei susammenfliessenden Braeteen gebildetes Involucrum
bidehtatum charakterisirt.

According to Raphael (1970: 75), volume 17, part 3, pp. 315-464, along with plates 10-22,
of the Transactions was published sometime between 21 June and 9 July of 1836. Thus Bentham's
1836 paper, long considered the first place of validation for bom names (Bentham 1856; Torrey &
Gray 1870; Goodman 1934; Reveal & Hardham 1989; Reveal 2005), did not appear until after at least
two reviews were published wherein his new genera were validated.

Thus, the correct citation of both names is as follows:

f Chorizanthe and Mucronea 2

Chorizanthe R. Br. ex Berth, in London Edinburgh Philos. Mag. & J. Sci., ser. 3, 6: 379. Mai 1835.
LT.: Chorizanthe virgata Berth, in Trans. Linn. Soc, London 17: 416. 1836, designated by
Goodman in Ann. MssouriBot. Gard. 21: 19. 1934.

Mucronea Berth, in London Edinburgh Philos. Mag. & J. Sci., ser. 3, 6: 379. Mai 1835. T.:
Mucronea californica Berth, in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 17: 419. 1836.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The development of a bibliography, aided greatly by the advent of searchable, online
resources of scientific literature, is part of an effort to prepare an identification manual of Eriogoneae
for members of the Eriogonum Society, I wish to thank Kanchi N. Gandhi for his counsel and help
with this matter.

LITERATURE CITED

Beilschmied, K.T. 1836. II. Gesellschafts - Versammlungen. Flora 19: 326-332

Bentham, G. 1836. On the Eriogoneae, a tribe of the order Polygonaceae. Trans. Linn. Soc. London

17:401^120.
Bentham, G. 1856. "Eriogoneae." In: AP. de Candolle & AL.L.P. de Candolle, Prodr. 14: 5-28.
Brewster, D., R. Taylor, and R. Phillips. 1835. Proceedings of the Linnaean Society. London

Edinburgh Philos. Mag. & J. Sci., ser. 3, 6: 379.
Goodman, G.J. 1934. A revision of the North American species of the genus Chorizanthe. Ann.

Missouri Bot. Gard. 21: 1-102.
Raphael, S. 1970. The publication dates of the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London, series

1, 1791-1875. Biol. J. Linnean Soc. 2: 61-76.
Reveal J.L. 2005. 44a. Polygonaceae Jussieu subfam. Eriogonoideae Arnott, Encycl. Britannica (ed.

7), 5: 126. 1832 • Wild buckwheat subfamily. Fl. N. Amer. 5: 218^178.
Reveal, J.L. and C.B. Hardham. 1989. A revision of the annual species of Chorizanthe

(Polygonaceae: Eriogonoideae). Phytologia 66: 98-198.