De Herbario Berolinensi Notulae No. 35
ÁNGEL BAÑARES BAUDET
Typification of five names of endemic Canarian Aichryson species 
(Crassulaceae) described by C. Bolle

Abstract
Bañares Baudet, Á.: Typification of five names of endemic Canarian Aichryson 
species (Crassulaceae) described by C. Bolle. - Willdenowia 27: 281-284. 1997. 
- ISSN 0511-9618.
Original material of five Aichryson species described by Carl Bolle in 1859 has 
been traced in the Berlin herbarium (B). Out of this material, lectotypes of Bolle's 
names Aichryson bollei, A. parlatorei, A. pachycaulon, A. parviflorum and A. 
porphyrogennetos are chosen.

Introduction
Following Praeger's important monograph (1932), the most recent work on the 
systematics of Aichryson Webb & Berth. (Webb & Berthelot 1940: 180) is that of 
Bramwell (1968), who accomplished a synopsis of the genus, comprising 14 
species, 4 subspecies and 4 natural hybrids. Nevertheless, the variability of some 
taxa throughout their distributional range in the Canary Islands indicates the need 
for an exhaustive taxonomic revision.
The first extensive contribution to the knowledge of this genus restricted to the 
mid-Atlantic archipelagos (Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores) and Morocco was 
provided by Carl August Bolle (1859), who published eight new species from the 
Canarian Islands. The descriptions of five of these species are based on Bolle's 
own collections, those of the other three species, i.e. Aichryson 
benthecourtianum, A. palmense, and A. sedifolium (* Aeonium sedifolium (Bolle) 
Pit. & Proust), on material collected by Eugène Bourgeau and Philip Barker 
Webb, respectively. After his death in 1909, Bolle's herbarium was left to the 
Berlin herbarium (B), and though many botanists believe it was destroyed during 
World War II, some minor parts of it have survived and are perfectly preserved, 
as in case of other important collections (Hiepko 1987). In contrast to the 
Aichryson material, however, no Bolle material of, e.g. Aeonium, is extant. The 
existence of some critical taxa described by Bolle (especially because of their 
rarity, the presence of hybrids, and similarities to related taxa) led me to carry out 
the present typification during my stay at the Berlin herbarium in July 1994.
The extant sheets carry handwritten labels by Bolle and a printed label of the 
Berlin herbarium ”C. Bolle: Herbarium atlanticum, acc. 4.1909” (Fig. 1). Each 
sheet is numbered in pencil at the right bottom corner; this number is also given 
in the lectotype citation, below.

Aichryson bollei Webb ex Bolle in Bonplandia 7: 244. 1859.
Lectotypus (designated here): ”Barranco del Rio, Palma, 24/9.52, an quelligen, 
schattigen Stellen”, C. Bolle: Herbarium atlanticum nº 1298 (B!; isolectotypus (nº 
1297) B!). 
There are two sheets of the same collection in the Berlin herbarium (nº 1297 and 
1298), and their labels have the date and locality as given in the protologue 
(”HAB. in Palmae insulae Barranco del Rio, in umbrosis humidiusculis d. 24 m 
Septembris a nobis detectum”). Sheet nº 1298 is designated here as the lectotype, 
sheet nº 1297 is thus an isolectotype.
As mentioned in the protologue (”A. bollei, Webb in litteris schedulisque herbarii 
sui”) the species was already considered as new and dedicated to Bolle by P. B. 
Webb but not published. A correspondingly annotated specimen (”Aichryson 
bollei Nob”) in the Herbarium Webbianum (FI-W), probably collected by E. 
Bourgeau or by Webb himself, however, clearly represents Aichryson laxum 
(Haw.) Bramwell.

The type specimen has a pubescent (not densely so) stem, branches, pedicels, 
peduncles and leaves; the leaves are trapeziform, broader towards the tip, the 
margins are papillose, not crenulate and without black dots; the petals are broad 
(3 mm) and attenuated towards the acuminate tip. Concluding from the original 
description, Praeger (1932) and Bramwell (1968) suggested that the presence of 
appressed hairs on the stem and inflorescence is a peculiarity of this species. The 
type specimen, however, shows the usual indumentum also found in other taxa of 
the genus.
Praeger (1932) and Bramwell (1968) also remark that the species has not been 
found since Bolle's original collection. Nevertheless, A. bollei is surprisingly 
reported thereafter from various localities on La Palma (Anonymous 1976, 
Bramwell 1969, Bramwell & Bramwell 1990), even with a small description 
provided in the last work. I visited these localities, observing that the populations 
referred to do not correspond with the type material and original description, and 
consequently do not represent A. bollei. Therefore, I consider, at the moment, this 
species to be confined to the type locality ”Barranco del Rio”.

Aichryson pachycaulon Bolle in Bonplandia 7: 244. 1859.
Lectotypus (designated here): ”Pico de la Zarza, Handía, Avril 1852”, C. Bolle: 
Herbarium atlanticum nº 1304 (B!). 
There is only one sheet in B (nº 1304) representing the collection quoted in the 
protologue (”HAB. in Handiae monte Pico de la Zarza, ubi m. Aprili 1854 vix 
florentem reperi”) and annotated as Aichryson pachycaulon. The collection is 
dated April 1852 on this sheet, but in the protologue the collecting date is, 
possibly erroneously, quoted as April 1854. The sheet carries one flowering 
branch, the fragment of a second one and two handwritten Bolle labels with the 
same collecting data but one with the initial determination ”Aichryson punctatum 
Webb, Pico de la Zarza, Handía, Avril 1852”, which is a similar species as is also 
mentioned in the original description (”Species inquirenda, habitu peculiari ab A. 
punctato recedens”). 
Two related species of A. pachycaulon were considered by Bramwell (1968) as 
conspecific: A. parviflorum Bolle and A. immaculatum Webb ex Christ. Later, 
Bramwell (1977) subordinated these and A. gonzalez-hernandezii Kunkel to A. 
pachycaulon in the rank of subspecies and added a fourth subspecies, A. 
pachycaulon subsp. praetermissum Bramwell.

Aichryson parlatorei Bolle in Bonplandia 7: 244. 1859.
Lectotypus (designated here): ”Gomera, Bco. de San Sebastian, 1856”, C. Bolle: 
Herbarium atlanticum nº 1302 (B!).
There are four sheets in B (nº 1299, 1300, 1301, 1302). Three sheets carry 
specimens cultivated in the Botanic Garden Berlin (”cult. in horto berolinensi”). 
The specimen on sheet nº 1302 has the same date and locality as given in 
protologue (”HAB. in Gomera ad scaturiginum margines in jugo vallem del Gran 
Rey claudentibus; nec non in imis Barranco de la Villa et Barranco de la Laja in 
rupestribus secus rivulum. Florens simul ac fructiferum inveni m. Octobri 
1856”[Barranco de San Sebastián and Barranco de la Villa refer both to the same 
locality]) and is therefore designated as lectotype.
Praeger (1932) nomenclaturally incorrectly subordinates Bolle's taxon to a form 
of A. punctatum var. subvillosum (Lowe) Pitard & Proust. Later, Bramwell 
(1968), clarifying the identity of A. parlatorei, placed A. punctatum var. 
subvillosum and var. villosum Webb ex Christ [non A. villosum (Aiton) Webb & 
Berth.] in the synonymy of Bolle's species.
Aichryson parviflorum Bolle in Bonplandia 7: 243. 1859.

Lectotypus (designated here): ”Bco. de la Galga, dans le foret appelé el Cubo, 
Autumne 1852”, C. Bolle: Herbarium atlanticum nº 1306 (B!). 
There is only one sheet in B (nº 1306) labelled with the same date and locality as 
given in the protologue (”HAB. in Palmae insulae laureto el Cubo de la Galga, 
ubi m. Septembri 1852 florentem legi”). The specimen has initially been 
determined as A. punctatum, from which the new species is actually distinguished 
by its small flowers (”A. parvifloro inter cognatos flores sunt minimi; dimidio 
enim minores quam in A. punctato inveniuntur”). 
Bramwell (1968) considered A. parviflorum as conspecific with A. pachycaulon, 
but Bramwell (1977) considered it as a separate subspecies of the latter species.

Aichryson porphyrogennetos Bolle in Bonplandia 7: 243. 1859.
Lectotypus (designated here): ”Gran Canaria, Valle de Tenteniguada, 1856”, C. 
Bolle: Herbarium atlanticum nº 1303 (B!). 
There is only one sheet in B (nº 1303) labelled with the locality as given in the 
protologue: ”HAB. abunde in rupibus subhumidis vallis Tenteniguadae Canariae 
Magnae”.
According to Bañares (1990) the species seems to be very rare on Gran Canaria 
and I have not found it again in the past 12 years at the type locality in 
Tenteniguada, where, in contrast, the hybrid of this species with A. punctatum (C. 
Sm. ex Link) Webb & Berth (A. xbramwellii Kunkel) is very common. 
Nevertheless, according to Bramwell (pers. comm.) there are still populations of 
A. porphyrogennetos in the Tenteniguada valley, and he furthermore collected the 
species at El Caidero de La Coruña, in 1996.

Acknowledgements
I am deeply indebted to Dr P. Hiepko for his kind collaboration during my visit to 
the Berlin herbarium. I thank Dr David Bramwell, Jardín Botánico ”Viera y 
Clavijo”, Gran Canaria, for his comments on an earlier version of the manuscript.

References
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Bañares, A. 1990: Híbridos de la familia Crassulaceae en las Islas Canarias. 
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Gorgadumque I. – Bonplandia 7: 238-246.
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Pl. Monogr. Reprints 1, 1967, Lehre].
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Address of the author:
Á. Bañares Baudet, Departamento de Biología Vegetal (Botánica), Universidad 
de La Laguna, E-38271 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.