ABSTRACT

The genus Suaeda (Chenopodiaceae) has been divided historically into two to eight sections or between two and seven genera. We review the sectional nomenclature of Suaeda to clarify priorities of sectional and generic names and to determine or assign types for each of these. The nomenclatural history of Suaeda has been complicated by past misapplication of the name S. fruticosa to the generic type, S. vera Forssk. ex J. F. Gmel., and incorrect author attribution as “Suaeda fruticosa (L.) Forssk.”, as well as confusion with the species correctly called S. fruticosa Forssk. ex J. F. Gmel. The generic type, Suaeda vera, is also the type of S. sect. Chenopodina Moq. (S. sect. Lachnostigma Iljin, nom. superfl.), which is correctly named S. sect. Suaeda. Suaeda fruticosa is placed in S. sect. Salsina Moq. Suaeda sect. Brezia (Moq.) Volk. is reinstated over S. sect. Heterosperma Iljin, and S. sect. Schoberia (C. A. Mey.) Volk. is reinstated over S. sect. Conosperma Iljin. Other currently accepted sectional epithets include Limbogermen Iljin, Physophora Iljin, Schanginia (C. A. Mey.) Volk., Macrosuaeda Tsvelev, and Immersa Townsend. Types are designated for S. sect. Limbogermen Iljin, S . sect. Salsina Moq., and S. sect. Schoberia (C. A. Mey.) Volk. and for the generic name Schoberia C. A. Mey. Suaeda sect. Platystigma Iljin is placed in synonymy under S. sect. Suaeda. Delineations of sections largely follow Iljin (1936. Sovietsk. Bot. 1936(5): 39-49), whose treatment has been generally supported by recent data on the distribution of C₃ and C ₄ photosynthesis and leaf anatomy in the genus. Sections are delineated by the morphology of the gynoecium and the seed, by leaf anatomy, as well as by inflorescence type. Descriptions and lists of representative species are given for the nine currently accepted sections.

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