Arenaria weberbaueri Montesinos & Iamonico 2023, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Montesinos-Tubée, Daniel B.
name: Iamonico, Duilio
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Caryophyllales
Caryophyllaceae
Arenaria
Arenaria weberbaueri

description: Alsine weberbaueri
Muschler (1911: 448) recognized this species giving a detailed description, the provenance (as “Peruvia: Andes altissime supra Lima, in formatione plantarum pulvinarum et rosulatum, in 4500 m altitudine”), and by citing a specimen (syntype according to the Art. 9.6 of ICN): “WEBERBAUER n. 5160. ― Specimina florigera fructiferaque 1. Aprilis 1903.―Herb. Berol.”.
No specimen was traced at the herbarium B; in fact, as reported by various authors (see e.g., Sleumer 1949, Hiepko 1987), most of the collections housed at B were destroyed during the World War II. Furthermore, no material was either found at MOL and USM, where duplicates of Weberbauer’s collections are chiefly located (Stafleu & Cowan 1988, HUH-Index of Botanists 2013+). According to the Art. 9.8 of ICN, a neotypification is required. We here choose as the neotype a collection made by one of us (DM-T) deposited at HOXA, which bears four plants from a single gathering (see Art. 9.17 of ICN) that morphologically match the protologue of Alsine weberbaueri concerning the habit (densely pulvinate with a long and thick root), leaves (linear-lanceolate with cuneate base, ciliate on both sides, thick, and petiolate), and flowers [with more or less curved pedicels (ca. 1 cm long), oblong sepals (3–5 mm long), and petals as long as the sepals].
Muschler (1911: 448) described this taxon under Alsine Linnaeus (1753: 272). However, this genus is currently considered as a synonym of Stellaria Linnaeus (1753: 421) (e.g., Hernández-Ledesma et al. 2015, POWO 2022b). On the basis of the protologue and type of Alsine weberbaueri and the current concept in Caryophyllaceae (see e.g., Walters 1993, Chen & Rabeler 2001, Rabeler & Hartmann 2005), this taxon is to be transferred to Arenaria based on the following morphological characteristics: lanceolate-linear leaves without stipules, five free and entire petals, two styles, dehiscent capsules with two teeth, each including 6–10 seeds without strophioles.
Arenaria weberbaueri (Muschl.) Montesinos & Iamonico, comb. nov.
≡ Alsine weberbaueri Muschler (1911: 448).
Type (neotype, here designated): ― PERU: Junín, Yauli, Morococha, public park, 4195 m, 26 April 2022, Montesinos 9345 (HOXA080341!, B101228133!) (Fig. 1).
Distribution and ecology:― Arenaria weberbaueri has not been collected in the type locality or nearby areas since its original description in 1911. During a recent expedition in 2022, we found it growing near the town of Morococha, at an altitude of 4195–4500 m a.s.l., inhabiting microhabitats in rocky outcrops, usually growing in stone cracks and crevices on humid montane grasslands with scattered lakes.
description: Published as part of Montesinos-Tubée, Daniel B. & Iamonico, Duilio, 2023, Typifications of Andean Arenaria names (Caryophyllaceae), with a nomen novum, pp. 54-60 in Phytotaxa 579 (1) on page 55, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.579.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/7532127