Veronica persica Poir.

Encyclopédie Méthodique 8: 542 (Poiret 1808).

TYPE CITATION. — Cultivated: “Croît dans la Perse. On la cultive au Jardin des Plantes de Paris”.

NEOTYPE. — Designated by J. Sánchez Agudo et al. (2012: 869): P-LAM[P00358041*].

Nomenclatural note. Veronica persica is the most widespread species of Veronica with an almost cosmopolitan distribution as an urban weed (Lehmann 1906). It is a tetraploid hybrid of V. polita and V. ceratocarpa that likely originated in northern Iran (Fischer 1987). Its first arrival in Europe is likely in the 16th century but it became widespread only in the 19th century (Lehmann 1906). It grew in the Jardin des Plantes de Paris and the name was published byPoiret (1808). Sánchez Agudo et al. (2012) did not find original material and neotypified the name with plants collected in the gardens in 1813 and possibly handwriting of Lamarck. However, specimens P00789664 and P00789667 in the herbarium Poiret appear to be good candidates for original material despite no date mentioned. Following the reasoning above, however, they don’t qualify as lectotype due to the lack of a date and it seems unnecessary to override a neotypification with another neotypification, especially since there is no taxonomic difference.