Litsea keralana Kostermans (1977: 138)

Singh, Rajeev Kumar, 2015, Typification Of Seven Species Of Litsea (Lauraceae) Endemic To India, Phytotaxa 201 (4), pp. 278-286 : 280-281

3. Litsea keralana Kostermans (1977: 138) . L. insignis Gamble (1925 a: 130) , non (Blume) Boerlage (1900: 142).

Type:— INDIA. Tamil Nadu, Anamalais (Anaimalai), Coimbatore district, Sirukunru (Sirukundra), 6 May 1903, C. A. Barber 5783 (lectotype K-000793256!, here designated).

Syntypes:— INDIA. Tamil Nadu, Anamalais (Anaimalai), Coimbatore district, Iyerpadi , 24 April 1903, C. A. Barber 5461 (K-000793257!) ; Tamil Nadu, Anamalais (Anaimalai), Coimbatore district, Iyerpadi , 24 April 1903, C. A. Barber 4064 ( MH!) ; Tamil Nadu, Anamalais (Anaimalai), Coimbatore district, Sirukunru (Sirukundra), 6 May 1903, C. A. Barber 8473 ( MH) .

Distribution:— India, endemic (Kerala and Tamil Nadu).

Notes:— When Litsea insignis was published, six gatherings—Evergreen forests of Travancore, Periyar about 900 m alt., Ariyankava about 300 m alt., July and Sept. 1898, T. F. Bourdillon 1009, 1046 ; Anamalai hills at Sirikunru, Paralai and Iyerpadi, 1901 to 1908, C. A. Barber 4064, 5461, 5783, 8473 were cited in protologue, but no specific herbarium sheet was designated as holotype. In 1977 Kostermans created the new name Litsea keralana and cited “Typus Bourdillon 1009; para-typus: Bourdillon 1009; para-typus: Bourdillon 1046; Barber 404, 5461, 783, 8473”, which constitutes an effective lectotypification in the sense of T. F. Bourdillon 1009, although the herbaria where these specimens were housed was not mentioned. No specimen pertaining to T. F. Bourdillon 1009 could be located and this necessitated the requirement of a lectotype. Four specimens, one each of the four gatherings of C. A. Barber were traced, two housed at K (K-000793256 and K-000793257) and two at MH. The best one, K-000793256, is designated here as the lectotype as it agrees well with the protologue and also in having drawing of dissected flower by J. S. Gamble .

4. Litsea laevigata (Nees) Gamble (1925 b: 1236) . Tetranthera attenuata Wallich ex Nees var. laevigata Nees (1836: 677) .

Type:— INDIA. Tamil Nadu, Tirunelveli district, Courtallum, Sept. 1835, R. Wight 712 (lectotype K-000357526!, here designated).

Distribution:— India, endemic (Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu).

Notes:—Nees described Tetranthera attenuata var. laevigata on the basis of 3 gatherings from ‘In Courtallum, (Wight. Suppl. n. 713. in anthesi, 711. et 712. peracta anthesi. ♀)’, but no specific herbarium sheet was designated as holotype. Only one herbarium specimen pertaining to this specification is now extant at K (K-000357526) as the part of the original gathering and is designated here as the lectotype.