Senna cumingii var. alcaparra (Phil.) H.S.Irwin & Barneby
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Authors
Howard S. Irwin, Rupert C. Barneby
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Authority
Irwin, Howard S. & Barneby, Rupert C. 1982. The American Cassiinae. A synoptical revision of Leguminosae tribe Cassieae subtrib Cassiinae in the New World. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 35, part 1: 1-454.
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Family
Caesalpiniaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Holotypus to be sought at SGO. Spms collected at Illapel by Philippi himself in XII. 1862 (†B = F Neg. 1651, MA, NY, W!) serve as standards for comparison but are not typi.—Overlooked by Bentham, 1871.
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Synonyms
Cassia alcaparra Phil., Cassia cumingii Hook. & Arn., Cassia coquimbensis Vogel
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Description
Variety Description - Intermediate between vars. cumingii and coquimbensis in width of lfts (as described in key) and in style-length, like the former in sepals, pod and seed, only the petals sometimes longer, the longest 11-16 mm.—Collections: 6. [Key: "Fls relatively small, the longest petal 9-16 mm; filaments of 2 long abaxial stamens 4.5-8.5 mm; style 2-5 mm; pod (at fertile segments) ±6-9 mm wide; ovules 10-16. Lfts of major lvs either of broader outline or shorter, or both.3. Major lfts at once short and broad, ±12-16 x 3.5-5.5 mm; style ±2 mm; local between 25° and 25°30'S in Antofagasta. Major lfts up to 23-32 x 7-10 mm; style 4-5 mm; Coquimbo."]
Distribution and Ecology - Habitat not recorded, presumably similar to that of the next following, vicariant immediately n.-ward, apparently local in the Coastal Cordillera, known certainly only from depto. Illapel (Salamanca, Illapel) near 31-32° in Coquimbo, Chile.— Fl. X-XII(-?).
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Discussion
The alternative identifications of Cruckshanks’s collection of var. alcaparra, first by Hooker & Arnott as a variety of Cassia cumingii and later by Bentham as C. coquimbensis, neatly illustrate the morphological intermediacy of its sort. Curiously, however, var. alcaparra is situated geographically to the south of var. coquimbensis and not between that and var. cumingii. In the context of its species and of those thought most nearly related, dolichostylous var. coquimbensis would appear to be the derived form which has replaced brachystylous forms of S. cumingii in one segment of its full range. The Alcapassa of the protologue of C. cumingii is not a place name but a misreading of the vernacular alcaparra, applied to this and other Chilean sennas.
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Distribution
Coquimbo Chile South America|