Aegilops ovata Linnaeus, Species Plantarum 2: 1050. 1753.

"Habitat in Europa australi." RCN: 7590.

Lectotype (Greuter in Boissiera 13: 171. 1967): [icon] " Gramen spicatum durioribus & crassioribus Locustis, spica brevi" in Scheuchzer, Agrostographia: 11, t. 1, f. 2 A, B, C. 1719.

Current name: Aegilops neglecta Req. ex Bertol. (Poaceae).

Note: This name has been used in the sense of A. geniculata Roth by most authors for the last 200 years, but the type is identifiable as A. neglecta Req. ex Bertol. Lambinon (in Taxon 30: 361. 1981) therefore proposed the name for rejection. The Committee for Spermatophyta (in Taxon 35: 557-558. 1986), however, was uncertain over the typification of the name, and declined to accept the proposal. The Committee nevertheless stated "Rejection of the proposal should not be construed as recommendation that the name A. ovata should be taken up in the sense of A. neglecta ". Aegilops ovata seems subsequently to have dropped out of use - see e.g. van Slageren (Wild Wheats, Monogr. Aegilops & Amblyopyrum: 6 [note 3], 281-282 [note 2], 1994). Greuter’s typification seems to have been generally accepted. However, the legal basis for the abandonment of A. ovata remains unclear. The name is not formally rejected, and Art. 57 seems not to apply in that a proposal to reject the name has been made, and ruled upon.