Drimia razii Ansari (1981: 572)

Yadav, Pradnya B., Lekhak, Manoj M. & Yadav, Shrirang R., 2016, Typifications in Drimia with notes on the identity of D. wightii (Asparagaceae, Scilloideae), Phytotaxa 289 (3), pp. 256-262 : 257-258

Drimia razii Ansari (1981: 572) ≡ Indurgia razii (Ansari) Speta (2001: 170)

Neotype (designated here):— INDIA. Maharashtra: Pune, Dive Ghat (near Zendewadi) 19 April 2015, P. B.Yadav PBY018 ( CAL!; isoneotypes BSI!, SUK!) ( Fig. 2).

Drimia razii was described from material collected in Dive Ghat, Pune, Maharashtra ( Ansari 1981). It can be easily recognized by its linear, erect and fleshy leaves, very short scape, and elongate perianth lobes. The author mentions that the holotype (Ansari 104878A) is housed at CAL and isotypes at BSI (Ansari 104878 B & Ansari 104878 C), CAL (Ansari 104878 D), K (Ansari 104878 E), and BLAT (Ansari 104878 F). A search at these herbaria revealed that all those type specimens that formed the basis of description of Drimia razii remain untraced. Provided that no original material of the species appears to be extant, a neotype is selected here which was collected at the type locality, Dive Ghat ( Fig. 2). The neotype shows a well-developed inflorescence and matches the protologue.

Drimia wightii Lakshminarasimhan (2003: 507) ≡ Urginea congesta Wight (1853: 28) [replaced synonym, non D. congesta Bullock (1932: 504) , nec (Wight) Stearn (1978: 208), nom. illeg.] ≡ Indurgia congesta (Wight) Speta (2001: 170)

Lectotype (designated here):— INDIA. R. Wight s.n. ( K000802725 !) ( Fig. 3 ).

Urginea congesta was described by Wight (1853) from material collected in the sea coast of Malabar region (southern India), who provided a diagnosis and illustration for the species. In the protologue there is no information on the type. According to Basak (1981) and Stafleu & Cowan (1988), most of the Wight’s types are at K, and considerable sets of material at BSD, BSI, CAL, DD, and MH. A search of original material in these herbaria revealed the presence of only one sheet at K (K000802725!) which can be relevant for typification purpose. This specimen bears a label in Wight’s handwriting as “ Urginea congesta ” and was examined by J.D. Hooker (1894) as a part of his monumental work “The Flora of British India ” and annotated as “ Herb. Wight Propr. ” ( Noltie 2005). This sheet bears a salvage paper label “Condungalungoo” in Roman and Tamil. “Condungalungoo” is a vernacular name of plant in Tamil and means water-carrying underground part (bulb). The material in that sheet shows leaves linear, raceme short and compact, flowers shortly pedicellated with obtuse scarious bracts, capsule subovate or globose, 3-celled, few-seeded, and seeds orbicular, broadly winged; all these characters match well with the protologue. Hence, this specimen is regarded here as original material and therefore, chosen as lectotype (Art. 9.2 of the ICN).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Lectotype of Drimia wightii Lakshmin. (R. Wight s.n., K-000802725). [Reproduced with the kind permission of the Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.]