| Viola angustifolia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Violaceae |
| Genus: | Viola |
| Species: | V. angustifolia |
| Binomial name | |
| Viola angustifolia | |
| Synonyms | |
Viola wikipediaJ.M.Watson & A.R.Flores (nom. illeg.) | |
Viola angustifolia is a species of flowering plant in the genusViola.
This species was firstdescribed in 1857 by the Chilean paleontologist and zoologistRudolph Amandus Philippi.
In 2019 the husband-and-wife team[1] ofrock gardening enthusiastsJohn Michael Watson andAna Rosa Flores [es;ast] renamed the species toV. wikipedia, afterWikipedia, afree-contentonline encyclopedia. They did so believing that the nameV. angustifolia was alater homonym, and thusillegitimate.[2] Indeed, the name "Viola angustifolia" had been published prior to Philippi's description, in 1824 by the Swiss historian and botanistFrédéric Charles Jean Gingins de la Sarraz, in the famousProdromus ofAlphonse Pyramus de Candolle. However, this publication cites it as anomen nudum synonymous to the speciesPigea banksiana, which is now known asHybanthus enneaspermus. The name had been proposed on a specimen sheet collected in India, but had never been validly published. As such, this name is what is known as apro synonymo, a name which cannot be considered as validly published because it is merely a synonymy citation. Therefore, Philippi's description is in fact the first valid publication of the name "V. angustifolia", andV. wikipedia is thus a superfluous and illegitimate name.[3][4]
It is closely related toV. acanthophylla,V. bustillosia, andV. cheeseana, the latter being newly described by Watson and Flores.[2] It is differentiated from these other species by having a "leaf margin shallowly long-serrate.Peduncle clearly shorter than leaves".[2]
The species is presumed to beendemic to theSantiago region of Chile.[2] It is known only from a specimen collected in 1855.[2][5]
John Watson lives in Chile with his wife and working partner, Anita Flores (Ana R. Flores for formal publications).
