Sennikov • Revised typification of Cortusa matthioli TAXON 67 (4) • August 2018: 794–797

Revised typification of Cortusa matthioli (Primulaceae)

Alexander N. Sennikov1,2
1 Botanical Museum, Finnish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 7, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland;
alexander.sennikov@helsinki.fi
2 Herbarium, Komarov Botanical Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Popov str. 2, 197376 St. Petersburg, Russia
DOI  https://doi.org/10.12705/674.11
Abstract  Cortusa matthioli was described by Linnaeus from Austria (former Duchies of Austria and Styria) and Siberia (prob-
ably vicinities of Lake Baikal). Three specimens and two illustrations are associated with the protologue of this name, referable
to C. matthioli subsp. matthioli and C. matthioli subsp. altaica. The specimen Herb. Burser XIII: 155, which was collected on
Traunstein Mountain in Austria, is designated as the lectotype. This action preserves the current application of the name and
supersedes the previous neotypification based on Herb. Linnaeus 199.1.
Keywords  lectotypification; nomenclature; original material

INTRODUCTION historical literature was examined for illustrations, which may

Cortusa matthioli L. is a name applied to a widespread
species of Primulaceae that is widely distributed in temper-
ate Eurasia (Kovtonyuk, 2011, 2013). When treated broadly,
including several subspecies that were accepted at the spe-
cies level by some authors, the distribution of this species ex-
tends from Central Europe to the Russian Far East, and from
Arctic Siberia to the Himalayas. The latest phylogenetic studies
have demonstrated that the genus Cortusa L. is nested within
a clade of Primula sect. Cortusoides Balf.f. (Martins & al.,
2003; Kovtonyuk & Goncharova, 2009), a placement further
affirmed by morphological characters (Lozina-Lozinskaya,
1936; Kovtonyuk, 2011, 2013). Primula matthioli (L.) V.A.Richt.
is the correct name for the species when treated in Primula.
Kovtonyuk (2013: 155) designated Herb. Linnaeus 199.1
(LINN) as the lectotype of C. matthioli. This specimen was iden-
tified by Linnaeus as “Cortusa matthioli” but it lacks a Species
plantarum number and any indication of its origin (Savage, 1945).
Therefore the specimen is most likely a post-1753 addition to the
Linnaean collection (Stearn, 1957; Jarvis, 2007). This specimen
undoubtedly represents Linnaeus’s concept of the taxon and has
a great historical value but does not constitute original material
and thus cannot be used for lectotypification. As such, the lecto-
typification by Kovtonyuk must be treated as a neotypification
(Art. 9.10; Turland & al., 2018). The purpose of the present study
was to uncover the history of this Linnaean plant name and to
evaluate its original material in order to select a new lectotype,
in conformity with the current application of the name.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The protologue of Cortusa matthioli was examined for di-
agnostic characters of the species, references to previous works,
and the indication of the original material of this name. Relevant
constitute the original material of the name. Linnaean col-
lections and their contents were examined via online portals
(http://linnean-online.org/linnaean_herbarium.html) or pub-
lished catalogues (Juel, 1936; Savage, 1937, 1945; Balandin &
al., 2003), and images of selected specimens were requested
from curators. Taxonomic literature was searched for possible
type designations and taxonomic evaluations of original ele-
ments. For historical details, the Linnaean correspondence on-
line (http://linnaeus.c18.net/) and historical studies on Linnaean
publications and collections (Stearn, 1957; Sokoloff & al., 2002;
Balandin & al., 2003; Jarvis, 2007) were consulted.
PROTOLOGUE AND ORIGINAL MATERIAL
Linnaeus (1753: 144) described C. matthioli from geograph-
ically disparate areas, Central Europe (Austria) and Siberia (“in
alpibus Austriae, Siberiae”). He provided a new diagnosis and
circumscribed the species to include three references to earlier
authors: “Cortusa foliis cordatis petiolatis” (Linnaeus, 1738),
“Cortusa matthioli” (Clusius, 1601), and “Sanicula montana
latifolia laciniata” (Bauhin, 1671).
The species epithet used by Linnaeus originated from the
work of Clusius (1601), which was largely based on Clusius
(1583). Clusius (1583) initially used a binary-looking designa-
tion for this species, and later (Clusius, 1601) he described the
plant, as well as provided an elegant woodcut which is part of
the original material of the Linnaean name. In that later work
Clusius described plants from the former Duchies of Austria
and Styria, present-day Austria, and this was apparently the
source of the first locality cited by Linnaeus in the protologue.
As is evident from the eponymy, Clusius named the plant
after Pietro Andrea Matthioli who was the first to introduce it
to botanical literature as “Cortusa” (Matthioli, 1565). Matthioli
provided the first drawing of the plant and noted its frequent

Article history: Received: 20 Feb 2018 | returned for (first) revision: 3 Apr 2018 | (last) revision received: 2 May 2018 | accepted: 7 May 2018 |
published: online fast track, N/A; in print and online issues, 29 Aug 2018 || Associate Editor: James C. Lendemer || © International Association for
Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) 2018, all rights reserved

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TAXON 67 (4) • August 2018: 794–797 Sennikov • Revised typification of Cortusa matthioli

occurrence on limestone outcrops at Valstagna in the Province “Flora Ircutiana”, which was cited by Gmelin, and this may be
of Vicenza, Italy, in the southern rim of the Alps. Italy was not the origin of the Linnaean specimen. It was likely the basis for
cited by Linnaeus in the protologue and thus the drawing in the report of the species from Siberia in the Species plantarum,
Matthioli (1565) should not be treated as part of the original and the specimen almost certainly is part of the original mate-
material of C. matthioli. rial of C. matthioli.
The reference to Hortus Cliffortianus (Linnaeus, 1738)
in the protologue, together with the corresponding synonym,
“Cortusa foliis cordatis petiolatis”, is associated with a speci- TAXONOMIC IDENTITY OF ORIGINAL
men at BM (“Cortusa 2”, Herb. Clifford 50.1), which is part of ELEMENTS
the original material.
Bauhin (1671) brought together the synonymy of the species Primula matthioli has been treated as a single variable spe-
and demonstrated that Clusius (1601) had a duplicate entry of cies without infraspecific taxa by some authors (e.g., Ferguson,
the same plant. It was illustrated and named “Sanicula mon-
tana” in the first version of Clusius’s book (Clusius, 1583). In
the second version, when Clusius (1601) added the treatment of
“Cortusa Matthioli”, the species was therefore described and
illustrated twice, although Clusius himself commented that
the two plants were almost indistinguishable. Via a reference
to Bauhin (1671), the woodcut of “Sanicula montana” (Clusius,
1601) is also part of the original material of C. matthioli.
In his taxonomic studies Linnaeus extensively used col-
lections of Central European plants, which formed Burser’s
“Hortus siccus”. These collections were originally identified
and organised according to Bauhin’s Pinax and provided an
interpretative basis for corresponding references in Species
plantarum (Stearn, 1957). The reference in the protologue of
C. matthioli to “Sanicula montana latifolia laciniata” is associ-
ated with a specimen, Herb. Burser XIII: 155 (Fig. 1), which
also constitutes the original material because it was referred
to that species by Linnaeus when the protologue was prepared
(Savage, 1937). This specimen was collected in present-day
Austria, Upper Austria (Oberösterreich), “in monte Draunstein
prope Gmundam” (on Traunstein mountain in the district of
Gmunden) (Juel, 1936). This locality is outside the area that
was studied by Clusius but corresponds to the provenance of
the species in the protologue.
The second locality mentioned in the protologue, “Siberia”,
cannot be clearly understood from the references that were
given. It must have referred to material which was not associ-
ated with a publication at the time the protologue was prepared.
Linnaeus received “Siberian” specimens from Georg Wilhelm
Steller via Prokop Demidoff and Johann Georg Gmelin, and
Gmelin also sent his own specimens to Linnaeus before the
preparation of the Species plantarum (Stearn, 1957; Sokoloff
& al., 2002; Balandin & al., 2003; Jarvis, 2007). From the cor-
respondence between Allioni and Linnaeus (http://linnaeus.
c18.net/Letters/L3898), dated 1757, it is clear that Linnaeus had
received a specimen of C. matthioli from Gmelin. At LINN
there is a specimen filed as Cortusa sp. (Herb. Linnaeus 199.2),
which bears a geographical symbol used by Linnaeus to denote
Siberia and thus may be treated as associated with Gmelin.
Gmelin (1769) reported C. matthioli (“Cortusa calycibus
corilla brevioribus”) to be common from the Yenisey River Fig. 1. The specimen of “Sanicula montana latifolia laciniata” in
at Lake Baikal, west to the Pacific Ocean (“a Ienisea fluvio Burser’s “Hortus siccus” (XIII: 155), the new lectotype of Cortusa
in transbaikalenses usque regiones ad Lenam et mare usque matthioli. Scale: coin of 10 Swedish Crowns issued by Carl XVI Gustaf
orientale frequens est”). The locality at the Yenisey may have in 1991–2000 (20.5 mm in diameter). Courtesy of the Museum of
been borrowed from the unpublished manuscript of Steller’s Evolution, Uppsala University.

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Sennikov • Revised typification of Cortusa matthioli
1972). However, it is more commonly treated as a group of
closely related species (e.g., Lozina-Lozinskaya, 1936; Fedorov,
1952) or a species with many subspecies (Kovtonyuk, 2011,
2013). Regardless of how one delimits the taxon, the mountains
of Central Europe, including the Alps, harbour only one mor-
phological entity, which is characterised by hairy leaves with
mostly short and obtuse lobes (Kovtonyuk, 2013). This entity
has long been considered to correspond to P. matthioli subsp.
matthioli, and its distribution extends from Central Europe up
to the Ural Mountains in the east (Kovtonyuk, 2013). In addition
to the above, one subspecies is accepted in the Czech Republic
(Kovanda, 2003) and another is sometimes recognised in the
Eastern Carpathians (Kovtonyuk, 2013). Several subspecies are
accepted in Asia, of which P. matthioli subsp. altaica (Losinsk.)
Kovt. and P. matthioli subsp. sibirica (Andrz. ex Besser) Kovt.
are most common in Siberia (Kovtonyuk, 2013).
Altogether, three specimens and two illustrations outlined
above form the original material of C. matthioli. Of the speci-
mens, Herb. Clifford 50.1 and Herb. Burser XIII: 155 are refer-
able to the type subspecies in its current sense. Like the Clifford
and Burser specimens, the illustrations published by Clusius
(1601) also correspond to the type subspecies.
The morphology of Herb. Linnaeus 199.2 (nearly glabrous
leaves, deeply incised into narrow lobes) indicates that it be-
longs to C. matthioli subsp. altaica and thus was collected close
to Lake Baikal, where the eastern limit of the distribution of this
subspecies lies (Kovtonyuk, 1997). Because of this presumed
provenance this specimen may be more correctly associated
with Steller rather than Gmelin.
LECTOTYPE DESIGNATION
In lectotypification, specimens are preferred over illustra-
tions because they allow more precise and reliable identifica-
tion of polymorphic taxa, and their origin is usually better
documented. Only one specimen of the original material of
C. matthioli, Herb. Burser XIII: 155, is associated with detailed
provenance data. This specimen is complete and shows the
characters of leaf shape and pubescence that are appropriate
to identify the specimen to the level of subspecies. It is desig-
nated as the lectotype of C. matthioli here. This action assures
that the name is applied to the taxon currently referred as to
P. matthioli subsp. matthioli.
Primula matthioli (L.) V.A.Richt. in Természetrajzi Füz.
17: 134. 1894 ≡ Cortusa matthioli L., Sp. Pl.: 144. 1753
– Lectotype (designated here): [Austria.] “In monte
Draunstein prope Gmundam”, Burser’s Hortus Siccus
XIII: 155 (UPS [photo!]).
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION
The author confirms that design, elaboration and writing of the manu-
script was in his responsibility alone. — ORCID: AS, https://orcid.
org/0000-0001-6664-7657
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TAXON 67 (4) • August 2018: 794–797
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am very grateful to Mats Hjertson (Uppsala) for a high-quality image
of Burser XIII: 155 from UPS. This image is reproduced with permis-
sion from the Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University. I would also
like to express my gratitude to James Lendemer for editorial comments
and corrections.
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