Timonius esherianus W.W. Smith (1915: 327)

Chen, Junhao & Wong, Khoon Meng, 2020, Typification and nomenclatural notes on Bornean Timonius (Rubiaceae: Guettardeae), Phytotaxa 446 (2), pp. 114-120 : 115-116

Timonius esherianus W.W. Smith (1915: 327)

Type: — BORNEO. Malaysia, Sarawak, Mount Santubong , 14 Mar 1914 (♀), Native Collector D 200 (lectotype E [E00143855], designated here; isolectotypes E [E00438196], K [K000763577]) .

Notes: —Smith cited a single collection (Native Collector D200) in his protologue and stated that “there is in the type specimen only one corolla, which I have not dissected”. There is indeed an E sheet [E00143855] with a single corolla in the packet that was annotated “only one flower that [was] not dissected” by Smith, but a K duplicate [K000763577] also has a single intact corolla. Another E duplicate [E00438196] is a sterile specimen with Smith’s annotation: “further material of this new sp. is much needed, flowers and ripe fruits especially”. We assume that the two sheets at E correspond to two separate specimens rather than a two-part specimen as there is no indication of “sheet1” and “sheet2” on them. Since Smith worked in E since 1911, the material annotated by him are likely to be his types. However, it is possible that Smith examined the K sheet prior to distribution and/or used multiple sheets when preparing his description; therefore, we here designate E00143855 as lectotype.

The inclusion of T. esherianus in the flora of Mount Kinabalu ( Beaman & Anderson 2004) is based on the misidentification of a single cited specimen that corresponds to T. pannosus ( Chen et al. 2015) . The specimens recognised as T. esherianus in Coode et al. (1996) are also misidentified and actually correspond to T. hirsutus Merrill (1917b: 242) .