Nomenclatural and syntaxonomic note regarding the anteriority between the publications of the year 1926 by J. Braun-Blanquet and A. Luquet

Vegetation Classification and Survey 7: 83–93 doi: 10.3897/VCS.171300 International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS) RESEARCH PAPER PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE Nomenclatural and syntaxonomic note regarding the anteriority between the publications of the year 1926 by J. Braun-Blanquet and A. Luquet Camille Roux1, Gilles Thébaud1, Jean-Paul Theurillat2,3 1 UniVegE - Herbarium CLF, Clermont-Auvergne University, Clermont-Ferrand, France 2 Fondation J.-M. Aubert, Champex-Lac, Switzerland 3 Department of Botany and Plant Biology, Section of Biology, University of Geneva, Chambésy, Switzerland Corresponding author: Camille Roux () Academic editor: Wolfgang Willner ♦ Linguistic editor: Michael Glaser Received 6 September 2025 ♦ Accepted 1 April 2026 ♦ Published 20 May 2026 Abstract This article presents the results of regional documentary research concerning two publications by Josias Braun-Blanquet and Aimé Luquet from 1926. Each contains numerous names of associations and alliances that were previously considered homonyms of equal age in the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature (Art. 33). We show that Braun-Blanquet’s publication predates Luquet’s, and draw nomenclatural conclusions. We discuss several alliances that are widespread in Western Europe and were published by these authors or others in the same year: Adenostylion alliariae, Nardion strictae, Cardamino-Montion, Genisto pilosae-Vaccinion, Arrhenatherion elatioris, Caricion nigrae, Sphagnion medii, Fagion sylvaticae, Calamagrostion arundinaceae, Festucion variae, Piceion abietis, as well as their type associations. The discussion focuses on their nomenclatural status under the ICPN and how they are included in the current European classification (EuroVegChecklist) and in the Prodrome of French vegetations, according to their syntaxonomic concept. Taxonomic reference: WFO (2025). Abbreviations: Art. = ICPN article; CLF = Clermont-Ferrand university herbarium; EVC = EuroVegChecklist; EVCC = European Vegetation Classification Committee; GPN = IAVS Working Group for Phytosociological Nomenclature; ICPN = International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature; MPU = Montpellier university herbarium; PVF1 = Prodromus of French Vegetation, first version at the level of the alliance; PVF2 = Prodromus of French Vegetation, second version at the level of the plant association. Keywords Auvergne, library, Massif central, nomenclature, phytosociology, priority, publication date, vegetation Introduction In the publications of Aimé Luquet (1926a) and Josias Braun-Blanquet (1926) concerning the Dore mountains and that of Cantal in the Massif central (Auvergne, France), respectively, each author separately published and the same names of syntaxa in the same year, which are therefore con- sidered as homonyms of equal age in the ICPN (Theurillat et al. 2021) unless different publication dates can be established (Art. 33). At the alliance level, these are “Adenostylion”, “Arrhenatherion”, “Cardamineto-Montion”, “Caricion fuscae”, “Genisteto-Vaccinion” and “Nardion”. This is also the case for plant associations belonging to these alliances. The principle of priority cannot thus be applied between these publications (Principle IV). In most cases, however, the Copyright Camille Roux et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. 84 Camille Roux et al.: Anteriority between Braun-Blanquet and Luquet 1926 names of Braun-Blanquet were chosen for the above alliance names, in application of article 33. This is the case in the EVC (Mucina et al. 2016) and in the PVF1 (Bardat et al. 2004). Here, we present new evidence that provides a definitive answer to this question. This is the result of extensive documentary research in several Auvergne libraries. Based on historical information, including that contained in herbaria, we also address the broader context in which the two authors collaborated, shedding light on all these homonyms. For each syntaxon concerned, we will also refer to the treatment in the EVC and its updated and refined version available online at FloraVeg.EU (2026), as well as to the treatment in the PVF1 (Bardat et al. 2004) and PVF2 (Roux et al. 2024). We will also draw the nomenclatural consequences of these results with reference to the ICPN (Theurillat et al. 2021). In addition to the syntaxa cited above, five other syntaxa must be added, which were also published by Luquet or Braun-Blanquet in 1926. These are “Calamagrostion atlanticum”, “Fagion”, “Festucion variae”, “Picion excelsae” and “Sphagnion”, which are also discussed. It should be noted that in the same year, Luquet published (1926b) an article in the Alpine geography journal, “Esquisse phytosociologique du massif des Monts-Dore” in which he cites no alliances and includes the names of the same plant associations given in his thesis (1926a). However, this data is not valid, because no quantitative indication is assigned to the listed species (art. 2b, art. 7). This publication should therefore not be considered for nomenclature purposes in this work. Search for original documents In 1924, Braun-Blanquet and Luquet organised a phytosociological excursion in the Auvergne, which resulted in several articles published in 1926 – «Arvernia 2», including that by Braun-Blanquet, «Le ‘climax complexe’ des landes alpines (Genisteto-Vaccinion du Cantal)” (Braun-Blanquet 1926). In the same year Luquet published his thesis under the editorship of Brulliard in Saint-Dizier, entitled “Essai sur la géographie botanique de l’Auvergne. Les associations végétales du massif des monts Dore”. In the preface, Luquet mentioned in a footnote that “the results of this fruitful phytosociological excursion are currently being published in the Revue d’Auvergne” (Luquet 1926a: p. 11). The Revue d’Auvergne is published by the Society of Friends of the University of Clermont-Ferrand. Between 4 and 6 issues are published each year, which are grouped into a single volume. Between 1924 and 1934 the Society simultaneously published, within the Revue d’Auvergne, booklets which correspond to a collection of memoirs and documents concerning Auvergne and the neighboring regions, under the name of “Arvernia”. These are papers that are distributed one after the other, as the Auvergne magazine is printed, but with their own pagination. That is why we find, independently of the Revue d’Auvergne, the booklet 2 of Arvernia corresponding to the «phytosociological studies in Auvergne», as if this work had been published in one single publication. The Society of Friends of the University of Clermont-Ferrand has the obligation to publish its accounting balance sheet annually. We therefore searched for the Revue d’Auvergne in several libraries in Auvergne, in order to (...truncated)