Syzygium caryophyllatum (Linnaeus) Alston (1931: 116)

Singh, Rajeev Kumar & Arigela, Ravi Kiran, 2020, Lectotypifications and new synonyms in Indian Syzygium (Myrtaceae), Phytotaxa 429 (3), pp. 200-216 : 206-207

3. Syzygium caryophyllatum (Linnaeus) Alston (1931: 116) . = Myrtus caryophyllata Linnaeus (1753: 472) . Lectotype (first-step designated by Kostermans 1981: 133):— SRI LANKA. Paul Hermann (BM, six specimens); second-step designated here:— SRI LANKA. Without locality, s.d., Paul Hermann 1: 7, No. 183 (BM000621253!). Remaining syntypes:— SRI LANKA. Without locality, s.d., Paul Hermann 1: 7, No. 183 (BM000621251!); Paul Hermann 2: 3, No. 183a (BM000621499!); Paul Hermann 2: 3, No. 183b (BM000621500!); Paul Hermann 4: 34, No. 183 (BM000628149!, BM000628150!). = Eugenia corymbosa Lamarck (1789: 199) . Lectotype (designated here):— INDIA. s.d., P. Sonnerat s.n. (P00297791!). = Syzygium bournei Murugan & Arumugan (2017: 281) . Holotype:— INDIA. Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore district, Way to Thanakamalai from

Konalar, 2000 m, 17 Feb. 1980, M. Chandrabose 65829 ( MH00238164 !; isotype MH00238163 !). Paratypes:— INDIA. Tamil Nadu :

Dindigul district, Palani Hills, Periya Shola forest , 23 June 1897, Bourne 528 ( MH00238121 !) ; Kerala: Idukki district , Eravikulam ,

25 Dec. 1997, S. D. Biju 32475 ( TBGT!) ; Idukki district , Eravikulam, 2 May 1998, S. D. Biju 37457 ( TBGT!) ; Idukki district ,

Kundala dam area, 1700 m, 15 March 2010, S.M. Shareef 69325 (TBGT!), syn. nov.

Distribution:— India, Western Ghats (Goa, Karnataka, Kerala Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu) and Sri Lanka.

Notes:—Linnaeus’ protologue of Myrtus caryophyllata ( Figure 3 ) consists of a short diagnosis, citation to his earlier works Flora Zeylanica ( Linnaeus 1747) , Materia Medica ( Linnaeus 1749) and one synonym cited from Plukenet (1692, 1696). The provenance was also given as “Habitat in Zeylona”. The illustration of Plukenet (1692: tab. 155, figure 3) is original material for the name M. caryophyllata . In the Hermann’s herbarium at BM there are six specimens [Paul Hermann 1: 7, No. 183 (BM000621251, BM000621253), Paul Hermann 2: 3, No. 183a (BM000621499), Paul Hermann 2: 3, No. 183b (BM000621500) and Paul Hermann 4: 34, No. 183 (BM000628149, BM000628150)], which were studied by Linnaeus for his Flora Zeylanica, and may serve as potential types for the name (Trimen 1887, Stearn 1957, Jarvis 2007). Kostermans (1981) cited type information for the M. caryophyllata as “Typus: Herb. Hermann (BM)”. There are six specimens of Paul Hermann at BM and according to Art. 9.17 of ICN ( Turland et al. 2018), Kostermans’ type citation must be accepted as the first-step lectotypification because it cannot be ascertained which of the specimens at BM was selected by him as lectotype. The type citation of Kostermans can be further narrowed to a single specimen by second-step lectotypification as per Art. 9.17 of ICN. Therefore, from the six specimens of Paul Hermann at BM, the best preserved specimen BM000621253, is designated here as the second-step lectotype of the name M. caryophyllata as it agrees well with the short diagnosis given by Linnaeus as “pedunculis multifloris, foliis obovatis”. This specimen contain a small branchlet with well develop leaves and inflorescences, as compared to other five specimens.

Eugenia corymbosa was described by Lamarck (1789) based on the specimens collected from India by Sonnerat and ‘Njara’ of Rheede (1685: 53, tab. 37). At present, only one specimen (P00297791) of E. corymbosa collected by Sonnerat is extant at Paris in Lamarck’s herbarium, which we here designate as the lectotype.

Syzygium bournei was recently described by Murugan & Arumugan (2017) based on specimens collected from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu by Chandrabose in February 1980, Palani Hills, Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu by Bourne in June 1897, Eravikulam, Idukki district, Kerala by Biju in December 1997 and May 1998, and Kundala, Idukki district, Kerala by Shareef in March 2010. After study of the description, illustration and type specimens, we couldn’t find any significant differences from S. caryophyllatum . Earlier, all the type specimens of S. bournei at MH were correctly identified by their collectors as S. caryophyllatum . Murugan & Arumugan (2017) differentiated S. bournei in having branchlets quadrangular (vs. terete), leaves with about 10 pairs of lateral nerves (vs. many), inflorescence in axillary brachiate cyme (vs. terminal corymbose cymes) and peduncles 2–4 cm long, quadrangular (vs. upto 10 cm long and terete), but after study of all the type specimens of S. bournei , the above characters were not found. All the type specimens of S. bournei have branchlets terete, lateral nerves 15–30, inflorescence in terminal and sub-terminal corymbose cymes and peduncles 3–8 cm long, subterete-terete, as like S. caryophyllatum . Even the illustration given in protologue of S. bournei is not matching with its description, but it perfectly matches with S. caryophyllatum . We have collected specimens from the type localities of S. bournei and also seen live plants, and after study found no differences from S. caryophyllatum . Moreover, the type specimens of S. bournei are very similar to the types of S. caryophyllatum . Therefore, S. bournei should be treated as a synonym of S. caryophyllatum .

Figures

FIGURE 3. Protologue of Myrtus caryophyllata Linnaeus.