Syzygium tamilnadensis Rathakrishnan & Chithra, 2015

Byng, James W., Wilson, Peter G. & Snow, Neil, 2015, Typifications and nomenclatural notes on Indian Myrtaceae, Phytotaxa 217 (2), pp. 101-116 : 111-112

34. Syzygium tamilnadensis Rathakrishnan & Chithra in Chithra (1983: 158).

= Eugenia montana Wight (1846: 3 . t. 1060), nom. illeg., non Aublet 1775. = Syzygium montanum Gamble (1919: 479) , nom. illeg., non Thwaites 1859. = Syzygium gadgilii M.R. Almeida (1998: 273) , nom. superfl. Lectotype (designated here):— INDIA. ‘Neilgherries, not infrequent in woods’ Herb. Wight 1042 (K! [barcode K000821339]).

Distribution:— India [Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu]; 1400‒1700 m. Notes:— Wight (1846) described and illustrated Eugenia montana , a later homonym and thus an illegitimate name. Gamble (1919) later transferred the taxon to Syzygium , where it is treated as a new name ( McNeill et al. 2012, article 58.1). Since S. montanum Gamble is also a later homonym, Rathakrishnan & Chithra ( Chithra 1983) proposed a new name for the taxon as Syzygium tamilnadensis Rathakrishnan & Chithra. Govaerts ( WCSP 2015) placed S. tamilnadensis as a synonym of S. grande (Wight) Walpers , but it is clearly a distinct taxon based on its quadrangular (vs. terete) stems, fused (vs. free) petals and prominent venation below (vs. both sides).

Several specimens, all said to be from the Neilgherry Hills, might be considered original material. Two are from Wight’s herbarium and labelled as ‘ Peninsula Indiae Orientalis No. 1042’ but one of these, barcode K000821340 , is dated ‘ May 1857 ’, well after the publication date. We have chosen the other specimen from Wight’s herbarium, barcode K000821339 , as lectotype. Two additional specimens at Kew collected from the Neilgherries , barcodes K000821337 and K000821338 , are mistakenly databased as originating from Sri Lanka because they are attributed to ‘ Gardner’ (i.e. George Gardner, superintendent of the botanic garden at Peradeniya). One of these has the annotation ‘ Gardner 1847’ but this is a later addition ; we interpret this as the date it was either despatched or received and do not rule it out as a syntype.