Capparis roxburghii DC., Prodr.

Turner, Ian M., 2022, FROM ACACIA TO ZIZIPHUS: PLANT NAMES COMMEMORATING THE BOTANIST WILLIAM ROXBURGH, Edinburgh Journal of Botany 79 (1911), pp. 1-102 : 29-31

Capparis roxburghii DC., Prodr. 1: 247–248 (1824). – Type: Ind. Orient., W. Roxburgh s.n.

( holotype BM [ BM000629297 ]) .

De Candolle cited ‘ C. aguba herb. Banks v.s.’ when describing this species. There is a Roxburgh specimen in BM (that includes the Banks Herbarium) with a pencil annotation of ‘ Capparis Aguba Roxburgh’, which I take to be the holotype of C. roxburghii DC. This specimen may have been misplaced or overlooked in the past, as Raghavan (1972) designated a Roxburgh specimen in K as ‘type’, but this was not required.

Cassia roxburghii DC., Prodr. 2: 489 (1825). – Cathartocarpus roxburghii (DC.) Loudon, Hort. Brit. 167 (1830). – Type : India, BGC [Botanic Gardens Calcutta], vii 1818, N. Wallich s.n. (lectotype G-DC [ IDC800 LM-429/17], designated here).

The Prodromus Herbarium in Geneva contains a specimen labelled ‘M. Wallich, July

1818 BGC’ that is clearly original material for de Candolle’s name and is here selected as lectotype. A Wallich collection [EIC 5308] in K was referred to as holotype by de Wit (1955), but the specimens are not annotated with the collection dates of the G-DC specimen and therefore cannot be assumed to be duplicate material. I therefore do not accept de Wit’s statement as a first-step lectotypification.

Cassine albens (Retz.) Kosterm., Gard. Bull. Singapore 39(2): 178 (1987) [‘1986’]. – Schrebera albens Retz., Observ. Bot. 6: 25 (1791). – Type : J.G. Koenig s.n. (lectotype LD [ LD1808462 ], designated by Fischer, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1932: 53 [1932]).

Neerija dichotoma Roxb., Fl. Ind. 2: 444 (1824). – Rhamnus nerija Spreng., Syst. Veg. 4(2) cur. post. 86 (1827), nom. illegit., superfl. – Elaeodendron roxburghii Wight & Arn., Cat. Ind. Pl. 30, sub no. 485 (1833), nom. illegit., superfl. – Type: [unpublished illustration] Icones Roxburghianae 73 (lectotype K, designated here).

Cassine glauca var. roxburghii Pierre, Fl. Forest. Cochinch. 4: sub t. 296A (1893). – Type: Canara, Ritchie (not traced).

Elaeodendron roxburghii Wight & Arn. is a superfluous renaming of Neerija dichotoma Roxb. As no original specimens have been located, Roxburgh’s drawing is selected as lectotype here. Cassine glauca var. roxburghiana was based on Elaeodendron glaucum var. 2 of Lawson. The only cited collection for this was a Ritchie specimen from Canara, which I have not traced.

Castanopsis castanicarpa (Roxb.) Spach, Hist. Nat. Vég. 11: 185 (1842). – Quercus castanicarpa Roxb., Pl. Coromandel 3: 93, t. 296, f. 2 (1820). – Castanea roxburghii Lindl. in Wallich, Pl. Asiat. Rar. 2: 16 (1830), nom. illegit., superfl. – Type: [published illustration] ‘ Quercus castanicarpa’, Roxburgh, Pl. Coromandel 3: t. 296, f. 2 (1820) (lectotype designated here).

Lindley’s Castanea roxburghii is superflous to Quercus castanicarpa Roxb. As no Roxburgh specimens have been located, the name is here lectotypified to the plate in the original publication.

Castanopsis indica (Roxb. ex Lindl.) A.DC., J. Bot. 1: 182 (1863). – Castanea indica Roxb. ex Lindl. in Wallich, Pl. Asiat. Rar. 2: 5 (1830–1831). – Type: Nepalia, 1821, N. Wallich s.n. [ EIC 2761 A] (lectotype CGE [ CGE00046361 ], designated here; isolectotype K-W [ K001117038 ]).

Quercus serrata Roxb., Fl. Ind. 3: 641 (1832), nom. illegit., non Q. serrata Murray (1784) . – Quercus prinodes Voigt, Hort. Suburb. Calcutt. 277 (1845), nom. illegit., non Q. prinoides Willd. (1805) . – Quercus roxburghii Endl., Gen. Pl. Suppl. 4(2): 28 (1848). – Quercus serrata var. roxburghii (Endl.) A.DC., Prodr. 16(2): 51 (1864). – Quercus acutissima var. roxburghii (Endl.) Schottky, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 47: 639 (1912). – Quercus acutissima subsp. roxburghii (Endl.) A.Camus, Chênes, Atlas 1: 86 (1934). – Type: [unpublished illustration] Icones Roxburghianae 2393 (lectotype K, designated here).

Quercus roxburghii Endl. represents a nomen novum for the illegitimate later homonym Quercus serrata Roxb. Roxburgh’s drawing is here designated as lectotype. Castanopsis indica (Roxb. ex Lindl.) A.DC. was first described in print by Lindley, who referred to characters relating to foliage and fruit. I therefore select a fruiting specimen in CGE as lectotype.