Synonyms and Further Comments Elton M. C. Leme in JBS 2002 p195-8
In May 2000, when the third volume of the trilogy on the nidularioid complex was in its final printing stage, two articles on Nidularium species from Sao Paulo State appeared on the scene in the January-April issue of the Acta Botanica Brasilica. Besides a few new combinations, Wanderley & Moreira (2000) and Moreira & Wanderley (2000) then described two new taxa to Nidularium. More recently, Luther (2001) reduced these taxa to synonyms, following the taxonomical treatment proposed by Leme (2000), and briefly commented on the new combinations as well. At the time the two articles became available, it was impossible to interrupt the printing process to include any new information in the Nidularium volume. Therefore, I am taking the opportunity to provide the commentaries on those new taxa now.
In the first article Wanderley & Moreira (2000) explicitly adopted a broad concept for Nidularium (including the subgenus Canistropsis), in opposition to the circumscription proposed by Leme ( 1997, 1998, 2000), and described a new taxon, N. amazonicum var. paulistanum Wand. & B. A. Moreira. The new variety was based on a specimen collected in 1992 by Wanderley et al. ( collection number 2000) and cultivated in the Instituto de Botanica de Sao Paulo. By coincidence, a descendant specimen from the same cultivated clone flowered in Rio de Janeiro in December 1995 and was carefully examined for the global revision of Nidularium published by Leme (2000). It was cited as one of the "supplementary examined specimen" for N. krisgreeniae Leme. This coincidence makes it clear that N. amazonicum var. paulistanum was just a N. krisgreeniae conceived under variety status, which was easily confirmed also by comparing the dlscription and drawing provided in the protologue of var. paulistanum.
Wanderley & Moreira (2000) unintentionally generated confusion when they stated the type material of their var. paulistanum came from the same cultivated source of the specimen Kanashiro # 386 which was selected as the type of N. krisgreeniae. Also, they established a nomen nudum, "N kanashiroi", and attributed it to me. However, in order to clarify the problem, some background information must be taken into consideration.
On November 21, 1995, the botanist Shoey Kanashiro, then working at 'the Instituto de Botanica de Sao Paulo, sent three specimens of Nidularium to me in Rio de Janeiro for study along with a letter containing information on them. The first sample was N. minutum Mez, collected by him in 20 November 1995 (# 680), later selected as a neotype (Leme, 2000; see picture on page 175), The second sample became the type-specimen of N. krisgreeniae, collected by himself under the number 386, in 14 May 1993, at Fazenda Intervales (Leme, 2000; see page 171 and picture on page 173). The third sample was a specimen under his number 99 that was cultivated at the Instituto de Botanica de Sao Paulo. According to the data provided by Kanashiro, this sample was collected by " Wanderley s. n. " in August 1992 at Fazenda 1ntervales.
The data on the third above-mentioned specimen, " Kanashiro # 99", was cited in the protologue of N. krisgreeniae as "Sete Barras, Faz. Intervales, Aug. 1992, M. G. L. Wanderley s. n. legit, fl. cult Dec. 1995, E. Leme 3305 (HB, RB)" and listed among the "supplementary specimens examined", but was not adopted as a nomenclatural type (Leme, 2000; see page 172).
On the other hand, the specimen "Kanashiro # 386", examined by Wanderley & Moreira is the isotype of N. krisgreeniae deposited in the Herbarium of the Instituto de Botanica de Sao Paulo (SP), but definitively it is not the same as "Wanderley et al. # 2000". In fact, "Wanderley et al. # 2000" (deposited in SP and RB, and collected in July 1992) and "Wanderley s. n." ( deposited in HB and RB, and indicated by Kanashiro as being collected in August 1992, certainly a second hand information error for the correct date, July 1992) are descendant of the same source in cultivation in Instituto de Botanica de Sao Paulo.
Finally, the epithet "kanashiroi", initially chosen to honor the collector, was abandoned after a written request of Shoey Kanashiro, who would like to avoid any kind of argument with close colleagues from the Instituto de Botanica de Sao Paulo. Therefore, the name "kanashiroi" was never published before Wanderley & Moreira (2000). For instance, another more appropriate epithet was correctly chosen for the taxon (i. e., N. krisgreeniae) and validly published in the global revision of Nidularium (Leme, 2000).
After such considerations, two conclusions may be reached:
1) Wanderley & Moreira examined the isotype of N. krisgreeniae deposited in SP and knew in advance, even before publishing N. amazonicum var. paulistanum, that it would soon be published as a new species, as cited in Leme [1998; see page 8, and the citation "N. sp. nov. (Kanashiro 386)" and "Nidularium sp. nov. (Kanashiro 386)" on page 116, 117 and 127].
2) The epithet "Kanashiroi", which did not have any status under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (art. 12.1, Saint Louis Code, Greuter et al., 2080) before Wanderley & Moreira (2000), was inappropriately established and published by them, without a description or diagnosis, as a nomen nudum.
Although N. amazonicum var. paulistanum was published before N. krisgreeniae, according to art. 11.2 of Saint Louis Code (Greuter et al., 2000), "in no case does a name have priority outside the rank in which it is published". So adopting the species status as the most appropriate facing the criteria used in the global Nidularium revision (Leme, 2000), the full citation of the synonym follows: —SeeJ. Bromeliad Soc.
Distribution & Habitat
This new species lives in the mountains covered by Atlantic forest in a triangle formed by the municipalities of Tapirai, Sao Miguel Arcanjo and Sete Barras, in Sao Paulo state. It grows in the lower layer of moist forest, mainly on the forest floor and on rocks. One of its main sanctuaries is the Carlos Botelho State Park. It flowers mainly in December when the torrential rains begin. There are three clones in cultivation including the one that gave rise to the type specimen. —SeeLeme 2000a
