Artemisia afra Willd.

1.Artemisia afraJacq. ex Willd., Sp. Pl., ed. 4, 3 (3): 1820. 1803. Type. South Africa • Cap. b. sp. [Caput bonae spei], s. d., Richard van der Schot s. n. (lectotype, designated here, B [B-W-15325-01 0!] (Fig. 1); isolectotype: HBG [HBG 0504025!]). Note. The name Artemisia afra was first proposed by N. J. von Jacquin and subsequently validly published by C. L. Willdenow with a formal description. The protologue provides a morphological description and a German vernacular name and records the locality as “ Cap. b. spei? ” (an abbreviation of “ Caput Bonae Spei, ” the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa), the question mark indicating Willdenow’s uncertainty about the exact locality. It is also annotated “ (v. v.) ” (vidi vivam), indicating that the author had seen living plants. The protologue did not cite any specific specimen or collector number, and since the type method was not yet established at the time, no type was indicated. Therefore, the original material comprises the specimens in Willdenow’s herbarium that can be associated with this description, as well as any duplicates later separated from this herbarium. The Willdenow herbarium, maintained as an independent collection, was acquired in its entirety by the Berlin Herbarium (B) in 1818 and is among the holdings that survived the 1943 fire (Hiepko 1972; Stafleu 1972). Specimen B-W-15325-01 0 in this collection exhibits characters of habit, leaf morphology, indumentum, inflorescence, and involucre that all agree with the protologue (Willdenow 1803). The annotation “ Van der Schott. W. ” on the front of the specimen confirms that it came from Richard van der Schot, with the “ W. ” being a mark added by Schlechtendal when curating the collection to indicate Willdenow’s ownership (Hiepko 1972). Van der Schot worked at the Imperial Gardens of Schönbrunn alongside Jacquin (D’Arcy 1970); the living plants observed by Willdenow and mentioned in the protologue very likely originated from that garden, and the material was seemingly provided by van der Schot. Although the protologue gives the locality as “ Cap. b. spei? ”, the specimen therefore represents cultivated material derived from South African stock. On the back of the specimen folder is a label consistent with the typical format of Willdenow’s herbarium; the diagnosis written on the label agrees with the protologue (Willdenow 1803). This specimen is part of the original material used by Willdenow to publish the species and therefore constitutes original material as defined by the Madrid Code (Turland et al. 2025). Only two original specimens could be located: B-W-15325-01 0 (B) and HBG 0504025 (HBG). Among the original material examined, B-W-15325-01 0 is the most suitable choice for the lectotype because it bears a well-developed and complete plant with fully developed inflorescences and numerous capitula and because its original label and annotations directly link it to Willdenow’s protologue (as detailed above). Taxonomically, it fully represents the diagnostic characters of the species as described in the protologue and is therefore the most appropriate element to fix the application of the name. Specimen HBG 0504025, housed at the Hamburg Herbarium (HBG), originally belonged to the Willdenow collection and was later separated by Schlechtendal into his personal collection. This plant is smaller and bears fewer capitula, and the specimen lacks the original Willdenow herbarium label and mark and is therefore less informative for fixing the application of the name. Accordingly, B-W-15325-01 0 is here designated as the lectotype of Artemisia afra. The HBG specimen is a duplicate of the lectotype and is treated here as an isolectotype. Taxonomic acceptance. Artemisia afra is currently accepted as a distinct species (POWO 2026).