Skip to main content
NCBI home page
PhytoKeys logoLink to PhytoKeys
. 2025 Jan 17;251:161–166. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.251.140272

Bertieraacutiflora (Rubiaceae, Bertiereae), a new combination based on the overlooked Psychotriaacutiflora

Andreas Berger 1,2,✉
PMCID: PMC11759921  PMID: 39867477

Abstract

Psychotriaacutiflora was described in 1830 by de Candolle in his Prodromus, and was based on a single collection by Thaddäus Haenke from near Guayaquil, Ecuador. Although the identity of the name has never been studied since its original publication, it is currently treated as a species endemic to Ecuador. It is shown here that the type of the name belongs to Bertieraprocumbens, which was described much later. Therefore, the new combination Bertieraacutiflora is provided here for the Columbian and Ecuadorian endemic and a lectotype is designated for the name.

Key words: Bertiera , Flora of Ecuador, new combination, Psychotria

Introduction

Psychotriaacutiflora DC. (Rubiaceae) was described by Augustin-Pyramus de Candolle (1778–1841) in the fourth volume of his Prodromus (de Candolle 1830). The name was apparently not used until Kuntze (1891) transferred it to the genus Uragoga Baill. in which he included essentially all Psychotria L. and related genera. Psychotriaacutiflora was not treated in the Flora of Ecuador (Andersson and Ståhl 1999), but was provisionally accepted in the Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador (Taylor and Andersson 1999). Probably on the basis of this catalogue, Psychotriaacutiflora is currently considered as a species endemic to Ecuador (POWO 2024). Apart from Taylor and Andersson (1999), who did not examine the type but suggested that the name might belong to Bertiera, the name has apparently been overlooked, and its identity is studied here for the first time since its original publication almost two centuries ago.

Psychotriaacutiflora was based on flowering material collected by the Bohemian botanist Thaddäus X. P. Haenke (1761–1816) during the Malaspina Expedition (1789–1794) in the vicinity of Guayaquil, Ecuador. During the Malaspina expedition, Haenke collected ample material, and part of it was sent to the Spanish authorities who funded the expedition. In addition, Haenke sent his private share of his collection, an estimated 15,000 specimens, to a trading company in Cádiz for safekeeping until his return. However, he remained in South America until his death and the specimens were forgotten for some time. In 1821, Kaspar M. Sternberg rediscovered the material and organized its transfer and study in Prague (Anonymous 1826), where it formed the basis of C. B. Presl’s Reliquiae Haenkeanae (Presl 1825–1835; see Stearn 1938).

The Rubiaceae of the expedition were initially studied by Friedrich Gottlieb Bartling (1798–1875), botanist in Göttingen and one of the contributors to Presl’s incomplete Reliquiae Haenkeanae. Due to delays in publication, selected families, including the Rubiaceae, were loaned to de Candolle for study. He included the material in his Prodromus, returned the specimens and kept some fragments for his herbarium (O. Sida, pers. comm.). On the basis of this material (“v. s. in h. Haenk.”), de Candolle described Psychotriaacutiflora taking up the epithet of Bartling’s unpublished name ‘Guettarda acutiflora’.

Results and discussion

In the present study, the type fragment in the Prodromus Herbarium of de Candolle (G-DC) at the Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de Genève was examined. The specimen has two pairs of leaves and an inflorescence in the late flowering stage with a few flower buds and immature fruits, and most of the flowers with the corolla already fallen off. In addition, a complete specimen with two flowering branches was located in the herbarium of the National Museum in Prague (PR), where the majority of Haenke’s collections are kept, and both are annotated in de Candolle’s hand as Psychotriaacutiflora (see Fig. 1A).

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Open in a new tab

Type specimens of Psychotriaacutiflora DC. (= Bertieraacutiflora, comb. nov.) A lectotype in the herbarium of the National Museum in Prague (PR 612078; photo: herbarium PR) B, C details of isolectotype in the Prodromus herbarium, Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de Genève (G-DC, G00667379) B flower C young fruit (photos: A. Berger).

The absence of raphides, the abundant pubescence of the vegetative parts, the persistent triangular stipules, the terminal, thyrsiform, bracteate inflorescences with the secondary axes dichasial at the first node and monochasial and secund at subsequent nodes, and the apiculate corolla tips immediately exclude Psychotria L. and suggest the genus Bertiera Aubl. within Bertiereae Bridson. The monogeneric tribe belongs to the predominantly paleotropic Coffeeae alliance and is sister to the paleotropic Coffeeae DC. (Kainulainen et al. 2013, 2017; Amenu et al. 2022; Kiehn and Berger 2023; Razafimandimbison and Rydin 2024). It differs from this tribe in having terminal (as opposed to paired axillary) inflorescences and (usually) numerous (as usually opposed to few) ovules per locule (Davis et al. 2007; Kainulainen et al. 2013). Bertiera is pantropical, and includes more than 50 species, most of which occur in tropical Africa (Robbrecht et al. 1993; Wittle and Davis 2010).

Five species of Bertiera are currently known from Ecuador, where the type of Psychotriaacutiflora was collected. All but one generally occur at lower elevations, usually below 1000 m (Andersson and Ståhl 1999; Andersson and Persson 2001). The flora of Ecuador treatment (Andersson and Ståhl 1999) recognizes four species, Bertieraangustifolia Benth., Bertierabracteosa (Donn. Sm.) B.Ståhl & L.Andersson, Bertieraguianensis Aubl. and Bertieraprocumbens K.Schum. & K.Krause. Later, another species, the montane Bertierarugosa L. Andersson & C.H.Perss. was described (Andersson and Persson 2001). It is only known from the type collected at about 2000 m, and is probably identical to Bertieraviburnoides (Standl.) J.H.Kirkbr. (Taylor 2024).

In Ecuador, Bertieraprocumbens is the only species that occurs predominantly west of the Andes, and the only species known from around Guayaquil and the entire Guayas province where the type of Psychotriaacutiflora was collected. Bertieraprocumbens is easily distinguished from its congeners by a number of characters: short pedicellate (vs. sessile) flowers, smooth (vs. ribbed) fruits and (2–)4-locular (vs. 5–19-locular) fruits (e.g. Andersson and Ståhl 1999; Andersson and Persson 2001). The type of Psychotriaacutiflora has short but clearly pedicellate flowers (see Fig. 1A, B) and de Candolle (1830) reports that the fruits are 2-locular. Thus, based on distribution and morphology, the material can be clearly identified as Bertieraprocumbens. Finally, the fruits are smooth which also fits this species, but they are probably too young to show this character beyond doubt (see Fig. 1C).

Psychotriaacutiflora has priority over Bertieraprocumbens, described much later by Schumann and Krause (Krause 1908) from the same region, and the name is here transferred to Bertiera. In addition, the complete specimen preserved in the herbarium of the National Museum in Prague (PR) is selected as the lectotype of the name (see Fig. 1A). Bertieraprocumbens itself was described based on a collection by H.F.A. von Eggers from Balao near Guayaquil. Eggers materials are usually found in many herbaria, but comparably few type specimens of Bertieraprocumbens are currently known and none bear an original annotation with the name. The duplicate in BR is a complete specimen with several branches with flowers and fruits, bears an original label from the Berlin herbarium where both K. Schumann and K. Krause worked, and is designated here as the lectotype of the name.

Taxonomic treatment

. Bertiera acutiflora

(DC.) A.C.Berger comb. nov.

3D318843-F054-5B76-BB92-45229C5C4788

urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77355304-1

Fig. 1A–C

  • = Bertieraprocumbens K.Schum. & K.Krause, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 40(3): 328. 1908, syn. nov. Type: Ecuador. Guayas, Balao: “prope Bulao in silvis”, January 1892, H. F. A. von Eggers 14282 (B†; lectotype, here designated: BR0000005305544 image!; isolectotypes: US00138193 image!, F0068504F fragm. image!, M0187082 image!, M0187083 image!).

Basionym.

Psychotriaacutiflora DC., Prodr. 4: 506. 1830. ≡ Uragogaacutiflora (DC.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 959. 1891. Type: Ecuador. Guayas, Guayaquil: “Guayaquil”, 1790, T. Haenke s.n. (lectotype, here designated: PR 612078 image!; isolectotype: G-DC 00667379!).

Distribution.

Ecuador: Cañar (J. H. Vargas López et al. 512, MO-1562740 image!), Chimborazo, Esmeraldas, Guayas, Los Ríos, Manabí, Pichincha. Colombia: Island Gorgona (Andersson and Ståhl 1999).

Supplementary Material

XML Treatment for Bertiera acutiflora

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the extraordinary help of Nicolas Fumeaux (Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de Genève), the collection manager of the herbarium G. Many thanks also to Otakar Sida (National Museum in Prague), the curator of the herbarium PR, for providing the photography of the type of Psychotriaacutiflora. Further thanks to the anonymous reviewer and the Rubiaceae subject editor Petra De Block (Meise Botanic Garden) who helped to improve the manuscript.

Citation

Berger A (2025) Bertiera acutiflora (Rubiaceae, Bertiereae), a new combination based on the overlooked Psychotria acutiflora. PhytoKeys 251: 161–166. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.251.140272

Additional information

Conflict of interest

The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

Ethical statement

No ethical statement was reported.

Funding

Open Access funding provided by University of Vienna.

Author contributions

The author solely contributed to this work.

Author ORCIDs

Andreas Berger https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3902-3827

Data availability

All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text.

References

  1. Amenu SG, Wei N, Wu L, Oyebanji O, Hu G, Zhou Y, Wang Q. (2022) Phylogenomic and comparative analyses of Coffeeae alliance (Rubiaceae): Deep insights into phylogenetic relationships and plastome evolution. BMC Plant Biology 22(1): 1–13. 10.1186/s12870-022-03480-5 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Andersson L, Persson C. (2001) Bertierarugosa (Rubiaceae), a new species from Ecuador. Novon 11(4): 373–375. 10.2307/3393146 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  3. Andersson L, Ståhl B. (1999) Tribe 8. Isertieae. In: Harling GW, Andersson L. (Eds) Flora of Ecuador No.62. Rubiaceae. University of Göteborg, Göteborg, 57–129.
  4. Anonymous (1826) II. Recensionen. Reliquiae Haenkeanae seu descriptiones et icones plantarum. Flora 9(2, 35): 548–555. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/906#page/168
  5. Davis AP, Chester M, Maurin O, Fay MF. (2007) Searching for the relatives of Coffea (Rubiaceae, Ixoroideae): The circumscription and phylogeny of Coffeeae based on plastid sequence data and morphology. American Journal of Botany 94(3): 313–329. 10.3732/ajb.94.3.313 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. de Candolle AP. (1830) Ordo XCVIII. Rubiaceae. Prodromus systematis naturalis regni vegetabilis. Pars quarta. Treuttel et Würtz, Paris, 341–622. http://biodiversitylibrary.org/item/7153#page/346
  7. Kainulainen K, Razafimandimbison SG, Bremer B. (2013) Phylogenetic relationships and new tribal delimitations in subfamily Ixoroideae (Rubiaceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 173(3): 387–406. 10.1111/boj.12038 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kainulainen K, Razafimandimbison SG, Wikström N, Bremer B. (2017) Island hopping, long‐distance dispersal and species radiation in the Western Indian Ocean: Historical biogeography of the Coffeeae alliance (Rubiaceae). Journal of Biogeography 44(9): 1966–1979. 10.1111/jbi.12981 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kiehn M, Berger A. (2023) New chromosome counts on Rubiaceae from Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands. Nordic Journal of Botany 2023(5): e03732. 10.1111/njb.03732 [DOI]
  10. Krause K. (1908) Rubiaceae andinae. Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie 40(3): 312–351. [Google Scholar]
  11. Kuntze CEO. (1891) Revisio generum plantarum vascularium omnium atque cellularium multarum secundum leges nomendaturae internationales cum enumeratione plantarum exoticarum in itinere mundi collectarum. Pars 2. A. Felix, Leipzig, [etc.]. 10.5962/bhl.title.327 [DOI]
  12. POWO (2024) Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org [Retrieved 24 October 2024]
  13. Presl CB. (1825–1835) Reliquiae haenkeanae seu descriptiones et icones plantarum, quas in America meridionali et boreali, in insulis Philippinis et Marianis collegit Thaddeus Haenke. Tomus primus. Tomus secundus. J. G. Calve bibliopolam, Pragae. 10.5962/bhl.title.515 [DOI]
  14. Razafimandimbison SG, Rydin C. (2024) Phylogeny and classification of the coffee family (Rubiaceae, Gentianales): Overview and outlook. Taxon 73(3): 673–717. 10.1002/tax.13167 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  15. Robbrecht E, Rohrhofer U, Puff C. (1993) A survey of Bertiera (Rubiaceae), including a discussion of its taxonomic position. Opera Botanica Belgica 6: 101–141. [Google Scholar]
  16. Stearn WT. (1938) Presl’s” Reliquiae Haenkeanae. Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History 1(5): 153–154. 10.3366/jsbnh.1938.1.5.153 [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  17. Taylor CM. (2024) [continuously updated] Bertiera Aubl. In: Taylor CM, et al. (Eds) Rubiaceae Project. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. http://legacy.tropicos.org/NamePage.aspx?nameId=40026944&projectId=34 [Consulted on 05 Dec. 2024]
  18. Taylor CM, Andersson LB. (1999) Rubiaceae. In: Jørgensen PM, León-Yánez S. (Eds) Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Ecuador.Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 75: 855–878.
  19. Wittle PM, Davis AP. (2010) A revision of Madagascan Bertiera (Rubiaceae). Blumea 55(2): 105–110. 10.3767/000651910X525259 [DOI] [Google Scholar]

Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

XML Treatment for Bertiera acutiflora
phytokeys.251.140272-treatment1.xml (7.9KB, xml)

Data Availability Statement

All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text.

Articles from PhytoKeys are provided here courtesy of Pensoft Publishers

RESOURCES