Overview
Goeppertia sellowii (Körn.) Borchs. & S.Suárez is an accepted species within Goeppertia Nees, the largest genus in Marantaceae. Plants of the World Online (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) lists the species among the accepted members of Goeppertia [3], and the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy records it as accepted at species rank under taxon key 7350587 [2].
Goeppertia Nees encompasses an estimated 260 accepted species, the great majority of which were transferred from Calathea G.Mey. by Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince in 2012 after molecular phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that Calathea as previously circumscribed was polyphyletic [1]. Goeppertia sellowii was one of the 246 species realigned to Goeppertia in that work [1]. The registry records the species as in cultivation; the synonym Calathea sellowii Körn. is the name most commonly encountered in horticultural trade [1][2].
Nomenclature
The accepted name is Goeppertia sellowii (Körn.) Borchs. & S.Suárez. The authority string encodes a two-stage nomenclatural history. Körnicke (abbreviated Körn.) published the basionym, Calathea sellowii Körn., in the Bulletin de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou 35(1): 120 (1862) [4]. Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince then transferred the species to Goeppertia Nees in 2012, publishing the new combination in Systematic Botany 37(3): 620–635 [1]. That paper established 246 new combinations moving species from Calathea into Goeppertia after phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that Calathea as previously circumscribed was polyphyletic [1].
The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy records the accepted name as Goeppertia sellowii (Körn.) Borchs. & S.Suárez under taxon key 7350587, dataset d7dddbf4-2cf0-4f39-9b2a-bb099caae36c [2]. Plants of the World Online (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) lists the same combination in the accepted species of Goeppertia [3]. The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) records the accepted name at record n/77130047-1 [4].
The synonym Calathea sellowii Körn. remains in continued horticultural use in trade labelling and retail contexts. It is not the accepted botanical name [1][2]. No additional synonyms are recorded in the registry for this species.
Description
Diagnostic morphological characters specific to Goeppertia sellowii as stated in a primary taxonomic source have not been located in the sources consulted for this article. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.
Goeppertia sellowii is a member of Marantaceae, a family characterised by asymmetric flowers and a distinctive thigmonastic leaf movement in many species [1]. Its placement within Goeppertia Nees, which Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince circumscribed on the basis of molecular phylogenetic evidence, is confirmed by both GBIF and Plants of the World Online [1][2][3].
Species epithet and authorship
The species epithet sellowii is a patronym. The eponym is Friedrich Sellow (1789–1831), a Prussian naturalist and botanical collector who undertook extensive fieldwork in Brazil and adjacent South America [1][2]. The epithet follows standard Latin patronymic formation and is spelled with a double 'l' and double 'i' in the accepted combination.
Körnicke published the basionym in 1862 in the context of 19th-century Marantaceae monographic work. The combination in Goeppertia was not made until 2012, when Borchsenius, Suárez and Prince published their molecular phylogenetic revision and established 246 combinations in one paper [1]. The parenthetical citation (Körn.) in the accepted authority string is the standard ICBN/ICN device for crediting the author of the basionym when a new combination is made [1][4].
Distribution
The native range and habitat of Goeppertia sellowii are not recorded in the current registry rows. The sources consulted for this article do not state them. Plants of the World Online lists the species among the accepted members of Goeppertia, but species-level distribution detail was not directly retrieved from that record [3]. The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy records the taxon as accepted at species rank but does not supply distribution data in the records consulted [2]. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.
The species epithet commemorates Friedrich Sellow, whose botanical collections were concentrated in Brazil and adjacent South America [1][2]. Inferring a native range from a collector eponym is not an appropriate substitute for a sourced distribution statement, and no such inference is drawn here.
In cultivation
The registry records in_cultivation as true for Goeppertia sellowii. The synonym Calathea sellowii Körn. is the name under which this species is most commonly encountered in the horticultural trade [1][2]. No botanic garden publication, university extension document, or peer-reviewed cultivation study specific to Goeppertia sellowii was located in the sources consulted for this article. Limited authoritative sources available; further research needed.
No cultivars of Goeppertia sellowii are recorded in this registry. No International Cultivar Registration Authority has been appointed for Marantaceae. The International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) maintains the list of appointed registration authorities, and Marantaceae does not appear on it [6][7]. The registry genus record for Goeppertia records icra_authority as null and dt_is_icra as false, consistent with this position. Digital Towns is an applicant and an aggregator; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by the ISHS or any appointed registration authority.