734 Version of Record TAXON 66 (3) • June 2017: 734–737 Iamonico & Del Guacchio • The controversial Statice minuta (Plumbaginaceae) Received: 19 Aug 2016 | returned for (first) revision: 10 Oct 2016 | (last) revision received: 17 Feb 2017 | accepted: 17 Feb 2017 || publication date(s): online fast track, 2 Jun 2017; in print and online issues, 23 Jun 2017 || © International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) 2017 INTRODUCTION Limonium Mill. (Plumbaginaceae Juss.) is a subcosmopoli- tan genus showing a remarkable species richness mainly found in the Mediterranean territories (see, e.g., Lledó & al., 2005; Brullo & Erben, 2016; Vallariello & al., 2016). Linnaeus published only 18 names under Statice L. (Jarvis, 2007), 12 of which are currently referred to Limonium Mill. (see, e.g., Domina, 2011; Hernández-Ledesma & al., 2015). Among them, 7 names ( Statice aurea L., S. cordata L., S. flex- uosa L., S. limonium L., S. minuta L., S. pruinosa L., S. reticu- lata L.) appear to be still untypified (Jarvis, 2007). As part of ongoing studies on Plumbaginaceae in the Mediterranean area (e.g., Ferrer-Gallego & al., 2014; Iberite & al., 2014; Vallariello & al., 2016), we highlighted an in- teresting and intricate taxonomical and nomenclatural issue concerning Statice minuta. We realized that the lectotype of this name (specimen LINN 395.16, image available at http:// linnean-online.org/3695/), which was designated by Erben (1978: 447), can neither be accepted as original material nor be ascribed to the taxon currently known as Limonium minutum (L.) Chaz. (≡ Statice minuta L.) and therefore does not support the current usage of the name. As a consequence, a formal proposal for the conservation of the name S. minuta with a con- served type has been made by us (Iamonico & Del Guacchio, 2017). In the present paper, which supports our proposal, we outline the nomenclatural history of the name, with particular reference to the material (specimens and images) and Linnaean correspondence, which are linked to it. MATERIALS AND METHODS This work is based on the analysis of relevant literature (protologues are included), and examination of specimens The controversial Linnaean name Statice minuta (Plumbaginaceae) Duilio Iamonico1 & Emanuele Del Guacchio2 1 Department PDTA, Section Environment and Landscape, University of Rome Sapienza, 00196 Roma, Italy 2 Faculty of Education Science, University of Naples Suor Orsola Benincasa, 80132 Naples, Italy Author for correspondence: Duilio Iamonico, d.iamonico@yahoo.it ORCID DI, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5491-7568; EDG, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9349-1328 DOI https://doi.org/10.12705/663.13 Abstract The original circumscription and nomenclatural history of Statice minuta are discussed. The taxon nowadays indicated by this name is endemic to the Baleares (Spain, western Mediterranean), but neither the lectotype nor the Linnaean protologue support this usage. The paper clarifies the origin of this mistake and preludes to a formal proposal to conserve the name with a conserved type. Keywords Limonium caprariense; Limonium minutum; Limonium pseudominutum; nomenclatural history; Statice minuta var. dissitiflora; Statice minuta var. microphylla; typification preserved at LINN and UPS. The Linnaean collections (Linnean Society of London, 2016) and correspondence (Swedish Linnaeus Society, 2016) were consulted. We checked also Savage (1937) for possible useful indications from Linnaeus’s manuscripts. The articles cited throughout the text follow the Melbourne Code (McNeill & al., 2012). HISTORY OF STATICE MINUTA AND THE RELATED NAMES Statice minuta was first published by Linnaeus (1767: 59) through a short diagnosis (“STATICE caule suffruticoso foli- oso, foliis confertis cuneatis glabris muticis, scapis pauciflo- ris”). The synonyms cited are: “Limonium maritimum mini- mum” from Bauhin (1620: 99, 1623: 192) and Boccone (1674: 26, t. 13, fig. 3), “Limonium fruticosum minimum glabrum” from Plukenet (1692: t. CC, fig. 5; 1696: 221,), and “Limonium siculum, folio cordato” from Boccone again (1674: 64). Some morphological notes (“Plantae longitudo vix digiti. Flores pal- lide rubentes”) were added, and the provenance was also indi- cated (“Habitat ad Mare Mediterraneum”). Note that Plukenet (1696: 221) cited Bauhin (1620: 99), who indicated “Massilia” (= the city of Marseille in southern France), while Boccone (1674: 64) reported “prope Panormum, & Augustam” (= Palermo and Augusta, two Sicilian cities). Despite this, the name is now- adays employed for a plant endemic to the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean Basin, Spain) (Erben, 1993). Finally, two illustrations by Boccone (1674: 26) and Plukenet (1692) were cited for the Provencal plant firstly described by Bauhin (1620), and another one for the Sicilian plant by Boccone (1674) himself. The first author who considered Statice minuta as oc- curring in Baleares was Boissier (1848: 655), who described two new varieties under Statice minuta: var. microphylla,