The 'Senecio aff. lautus' complex (Asteraceae) in Australia. II.* Clarification of names given to Pseudolautusoid Australian specimens of Senecio by Richard and by Candolle

Abstract

Australian pseudolautusoid specimens of the 'Senecio aff. lautus' complex, with phyllaries bi-ridged and bracteoles crowded just below the receptacle, can be excluded at the species level from Senecio lautus s. str. of New Zealand.

Specimens of the latter have flat phyllaries and numerous imbricate bracteoles on the tapering receptacle. Thus, it is necessary to review all other names for these Australian specimens, beginning with those by A. Richard (1834): S. rupicola, S. tripartitus, S. pinnatifolius, S. crithmifolius and S. gaudichaudianus; and by A.P. de Candolle (1838): S. carnulentus, S. endlicherii and S. macquariensis. These Candollean taxa are here all reduced to synonymy. Senecio crithmifolius A. Rich. (1834), non Scop. (1772) is not only a later homonym but also a nomen confusum, the type sheet bearing a mixture of two species. The same is true of S. crithmifolius DC., but with a different mixture. Both their type sheets included radiate specimens referable instead to Senecio gaudichaudianus A. Rich. This enigmatic taxon actually is radiate rather than discoid as described by Richard. I regard it for now as a valid distinct species in the Australian complex. Richard's four legitimate taxa are characterised, and typifications and synonymies given. Other names proposed for members of this complex will be reviewed in subsequent articles.

* Part I. Aust. Syst. Bot. 1993, 6, 359–63