Study and rehabilitation of some endemic Argentinian taxa in the genus Viola L. (Violaceae), and lectotypification of a Peruvian species

Abstract

Taxa of Viola sect. Andinium are detailed. W. Becker described new violas collected by H.F. Comber in 1925-1926. Sixty years later R.A. Rossow treated them in Flora Patagonica. His views have subsequently been followed in Argentina and influence taxonomic decisions taken there. Three of Comber’s species not included or accepted by Rossow are rehabilitated. V. comberi, synonymised by him, differs critically from all related taxa in its unique set of characters. He placed V. cotyledon subsp. lologensis in synonymy under V. dasyphylla. As it combines equally defining features of that pecies and V. cotyledon, it is elevated to full species rank here. V. escondidaensis, a distinct taxon with no close relatives, was omitted from Flora Patagonica. It may be found incorrectly synonymised under V. fluehmannii. V. nobilis, as also mentioned comparatively in the Conclusion, is lectotypified.