Syzygium coarctatum (Blume) Byng, N. Snow & Peter G.Wilson, 2015

Byng, James W., Wilson, Peter G. & Snow, Neil, 2015, Typifications and nomenclatural notes on Indian Myrtaceae, Phytotaxa 217 (2), pp. 101-116 : 105-106

12. Syzygium coarctatum (Blume) Byng, N. Snow & Peter G.Wilson , comb. nov.

Basionym:— Jambosa coarctata Blume (1850: 99) [ Jambosa coarctata Blume Museum botanicum Lugduno-Batavum 1: 99 (1850)]. Type: sine loc., Blume s.n. (holotype L!).

= Jambosa macrocarpa Sweet (1830: 212) , nom. nud. = Eugenia macrocarpa Roxburgh (1832: 497) , nom. illeg., non Schlechtendal & Chamisso 1830. = Jambosa macrocarpa Miquel (1855: 417) . = Eugenia megacarpa Craib (1931: 652) . = Syzygium macrocarpum (Miq.) Bahadur & R.C.Gaur (1978: 349) . = Syzygium megacarpum (Craib) Rathakrishnan & N.C. Nair (1983: 287) . Lectotype (designated here):— BANGLADESH. “Chalta-jamb, the vernacular name in Chittagong, where it is indigenous in the forests amongst the timber trees,” 1813, Roxburgh s.n. (BM! [barcode BM000944168]).

= Eugenia latilimba Merrill (1934: 64) . = Syzygium latilimbum (Merr.) Merrill & L.M. Perry (1938: 216) . Type:— CHINA. Hainan, Chim Shan, Fan Maan Ts’uen , 4–20 May 1932, McClure 20098 (holotype PNH†; isotypes A, BM!, K! [barcode K000793866 ], P!).

Distribution:— India [Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram], Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam; 1000–1500 m.

Notes:—Sweet’s name Jambosa macrocarpa is a nomen nudum cross-referenced to Eugenia macrocarpa , also a nomen nudum, listed in Roxburgh’s Hortus Bengalensis from 1814. Jambosa macrocarpa Miquel is treated as a new name based on the type of Roxburgh’s validly published but illegitimate name and priority for this name dates from 1855 ( McNeill et al. 2012, Article 58.1—Ex. 1). Miquel’s is the earliest legitimate name amongst the homotypic synonyms. Syzygium macrocarpum was published as (Roxb.) Bahadur & R.C.Gaur, which is correctible to (Miq.) Bahadur & R.C.Gaur under Article 41.4 ( McNeill et al. 2012).

Jambosa coarctata Blume is the earliest available epithet for this species, predating the name by Miquel (1855). The diagnostic characters for S. megacarpum (Craib) Rathakrishnan & N. C. Nair are shortly petiolate but long leaves (generally> 22 cm long) with (usually) a cordate base, and an acute or acuminate apex. We believe that the type and protologue of Jambosa coarctata are representative of the taxon presently known as Syzygium megacarpum , hence we propose the new combination Syzygium coarctatum .