Published December 31, 2017 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Lilium lancifolium Thunb. 1794

Authors/Creators

Description

TYPIFICATION

Thunberg did not select a type specimen or provide an illustration for Lilium lancifolium when he named the species and described it as “Foliis sparsis lanceolatis, corollis erectis subcampanulatis” (1794: 333). In his description, Thunberg cited his earlier misidentification of L. lancifolium in Flora Japonica as L. bulbiferum L. Based on the record of German naturalist Engelbert Kaempfer in his Amoenitatum (1712: 871), Thunberg included L. bulbiferum in Flora Japonica; later he realized this is a new species and named it L. lancifolium (1794: 333). We first searched for original material of Lilium lancifolium in the collections of Kaempfer. Kaempfer did not des- ignate or refer to any specimens in his work (1712: 871). With assistance from curatorial staff, we searched collections in BM (based on Stafleu, 1986) but failed to yield any original material (J. Wajer, pers. comm.).

We then sought original material of Lilium lancifolium col- lected by Thunberg during his travels in Japan. To accomplish this, we identified herbaria that contain Thunberg material using Taxonomic literature (Stafleu, 1986) and found 22 such herbaria. Among these were UPS, where Thunberg’s primary collections are housed, as well as other institutions to which Thunberg sent Japanese specimens, namely G, L, LD, S and U. We searched these collections via online databases and through personal communications with curators, and found only one L. lancifolium specimen collected by Thunberg, with the name annotated on the sheet. The specimen is UPS-THUNB No. 8139 (Fig. 1), and it is housed in a special repository at UPS for ~28,000 of Thunberg’s collections from Japan (partially data- based at http://cpthunberg.ebc.uu.se/thunberginjapan). We here regard this specimen as “original material” of L. lancifolium.

Received: 21 Sep 2016 | returned for (first) revision: 14 Oct 2016 | (last) revision received: 15 Oct 2016 | accepted: 18 Oct 2016 || publication date(s): online fast track, 7 Feb 2017; in print and online issues, 23 Feb 2017 || © International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) 2017

The UPS-THUNB No. 8139 sheet bears no locality details, but it clearly comprises one of Thunberg’s collections from Japan.

The above conclusion is based on the specimen having upward oriented (i.e., “corollis erectis”) flowers and lanceo- late leaves (i.e., “Foliis … lanceolatis”). This probably misled Thunberg attributing Lilium bulbliferum to UPS-THUNB No. 8139 which bearing buds instead of flowers, since the flower orientation of L. lancifolium will change from upwards to nod- ding with maturity as pedicels elongate (Y.D. Gao, pers. obs. in the field). In eastern Asia, there are very few species that have bulbils and heavy stem hair, facilitating the identifica- tion of the UPS-THUNB No. 8139 specimen. After extensive examination, we confirmed this specimen as one of Thunberg’s material of L. lancifolium based on possessing (1) trichomes on the stem and leaves (Liang & Tamura, 2000; Skinner, 2002) and (2) distal leaves bearing dark purple axillary bulbils (Liang & Tamura, 2000; Skinner, 2002).

Typification of Lilium lancifolium is a first step towards resolution of the taxonomic and nomenclatural confusion of the species. Below, we designate the specimen UPS-THUNB No. 8139 as the lectotype of L. lancifolium Thunberg, consistent with Art. 7–10 of the ICN (McNeill & al., 2012). In particular, the specimen comprises an original collection of the species by the authority from the type locality (i.e., Japan), and satisfies the concept presented in the protologue.

Lilium lancifolium Thunb. in Trans. Linn. Soc. London 2: 333. 1794

Lectotype (designated here):Lilium lancifolium ” (UPS-THUNB No. 8139 [digital image!]).

= Lilium tigrinum Ker Gawl. in Bot. Mag. 31: t. 1237. 1809 – Holotype: [illustration in] Bot. Mag. 31: t. 1237. 1809.

Notes

Published as part of Yun-Dong Gao & Xin-Fen Gao, 2017, Typification of Lilium lancifolium, pp. 172-174 in Taxon 66 (1) on pages 172-174, DOI: 10.12705/661.12, http://zenodo.org/record/400230

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Thunb.
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Order
Liliales
Family
Liliaceae
Genus
Lilium
Species
lancifolium
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Lilium lancifolium , 1794 sec. Gao & Gao, 2017

References

  • Stafleu, F. A. 1986. Taxonomic literature: A selective guide to botanical publications and collections with dates, commentaries and types, ed. 2, vol. 6. Utrecht: Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema. http: // dx. doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. title. 48631
  • Liang, S. Y. & Tamura, M. 2000. Lilium L. Pp. 135 - 159 in: Wu, Z. Y. & Raven, P. H. (eds.), Flora of China, vol. 24. Beijing: Science Press; St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press.
  • Skinner, M. W. 2002. Lilium. Pp. 172 - 193 in: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (eds.), Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 26. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • McNeill, J., Barrie, F. R., Buck, W. R., Demoulin, V., Greuter, W., Hawksworth, D. L., Herendeen, P. S., Knapp, S., Marhold, K., Prado, J., Prud'homme, van Reine W. F., Smith, G. F., Wiersema, J. & Turland, N. J. (eds.) 2012. International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code). Regnum Vegetabile 154. Konigstein: Koeltz Scientific Books.