Sonerila versicolor Wight (1846

Resmi, S. & Nampy, Santhosh, 2018, Lectotypification of four names in Sonerila (Melastomataceae), Phytotaxa 375 (2), pp. 165-170 : 167

Sonerila versicolor Wight (1846 part 4: 3, t. 1057)

Lectotype (designated here or perhaps holotype):— INDIA. Kerala: Palakkad district, Nilgiri hills, Sisparah , s.d., Wight s.n. (barcode K000867672 [image!]) Fig. 3 .

Nomenclatural notes:— Wight (1846) described S. versicolor based on the collection from Western slopes of the Nilgiris, below Sisparah among grass and low jungle. While searching for relevant specimens, we traced two sheets at K (barcodes K000867672!, K000867673!) and one at CAL (Accession no. 173066!) bearing the ‘Herb. Wight’ labels. The sheet K000867673 has an annotation “Neilgherry hill, February 1850 ” and the drawings of dissected floral parts by Gamble. It also bears an annotation by the late Roger Lundin (Swedish Museum of Natural History) as “ S. versicolor Wight , Lectotypus ”, but not properly published. In fact Wight described S. versicolor in 1846 and this sheet postdate the publication of S. versicolor and hence cannot be chosen as the lectotype. The Wight Icone No. 1057 is written on sheet K000867672 while the sheet at CAL is without any details of collection and is an admixture of S. gamblei (1985: 235) and S. versicolor . Hence it can be presumed that Wight’s circumscription was based on the lone specimen at K, which is designated here as the lectotype, but perhaps could be considered the holotype.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Lectotype of Sonerila versicolor Wight (barcode K000867672!).© The Board of Trustees for the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. Reproduced with permission.