Typifications and taxonomic notes for Veronica subgen. Pseudolysimachium (Plantaginaceae) based on material from the Hungarian Natural History Museum Budapest (BP)

Abstract

Veronica subgen. Pseudolysimachium is a group of 30 species ranging across northern Eurasia in various open habitats from dry steppe to swamps. It includes several horticulturally important species that have been crossed in the past. As such, it exemplifies a group with long taxonomic tradition, exemplified by more than 600 valid names, which also indicates its variability. In the process of identifying the evolutionary important units, molecular markers have started to help immensely. However, assigning names to identified significant groups of populations has been hindered by problems in typification. Here, we try to alleviate the problem for the taxa in southeastern Europe, which have been analyzed rigorously using AFLP fingerprints in the past, by lectotypifying 11 names and neotypifying four names, mostly based on specimens found in the Hungarian Natural History Museum Budapest (BP). This allowed revising Veronica barrelieri with its three subspecies and synonyms.

Altai Mountains – cradle of hybrids and introgressants: A case study in Veronica subg. Pseudolysimachium (Plantaginaceae)

“…(2008) reported that about 45% of the species in the subgenus are diploid and 55% are tetraploid, with eight species being purely diploid, two tetraploid and seven mixoploid. Frequent occurrence of hybridization and polyploidization in combination with large morphological variability (as well as interest in them as ornamental plants) led to the publication of more than 600 valid names for the ~30 taxa in this subgenus (Albach & al., 2017). Nevertheless, the importance of hybridization and polyploidization to speciation in the subgenus was perceived differently by different researchers, i.e., Graze (1935) considered hybridization as the likely explanation for morphological variation in the subgenus, whereas Fischer (1974) disagreed and considered intraspecific cytotype variation as the likely source.…”