Microsoft Word - S-1. 38-13 SC_Sorbus vestita OK.doc Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 20(2): 251-253, 2013 (December) - Short communication © 2013 Bangladesh Association of Plant Taxonomists NOMENCLATURAL NOTES ON SORBUS VESTITA (ROSACEAE) V. SAMPATH KUMAR1 AND S. KARTHIKEYAN2 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, United Kingdom Keywords: Nomenclature; Sorbus vestita; New combination. During the preparation of checklist of Indian flowering plants, the nomenclature in Rosaceae was being perused by one of the authors and was found that Pyrus vestita var. khasiana Hook. f. was transferred to Sorbus cuspidata (Spach) Hedl. by Ghora (2007), although the name S. vestita (basionym Pyrus vestita Wall. ex G. Don) exists. A literature survey was made and found S. vestita (Wall. ex G. Don) S. Schauer has to be accepted and the name S. cuspidata should be considered as its synonym. In most taxonomical accounts, Loddiges (Cat. Pl. ed. 16: 36. 1836) was attributed with the credit of transferring Pyrus vestita to Sorbus vestita (e.g. Long, 1987; Aldasora et al., 2004; Watson and Manandhar, 2011). Verification of original of the Loddiges’ Catalogue available at Lindley Library, London revealed that Schauer (1848) has to be ascribed because in the Loddiges’ catalogue (ed. 16, 1836), the name Sorbus vestita was mentioned without any author citation or basionym. For further confirmation, other available editions published by Loddiges available at Lindley and Kew Libraries were also searched, but in vain. It seems Loddiges has been accredited due to Loudon (1854: 912), who cited, ‘Sorbus vestita Lodd. Cat. edit. 1836’ as one of the synonyms under ‘Pyrus vestita Wall.’ The confusion of the validity of the epithet ‘vestita’ crept after publication of The Flora of British India, where J. D. Hooker (1878: 375) did not mention G. Don’s publication, by which for a long period Pyrus vestita Wall. [Cat. no.679. 1828, nom. nud.] was considered to have been validated by Hook. f. (e.g. Yu et al., 1974; Ohashi, 1979; Press et al., 2000; Lu and Spongberg, 2003). Consequently, the specific epithet of Crataegus cuspidata Spach got priority over Pyrus vestita! Watson & Manandhar (l.c.), however, mentioned C. cuspidata as well as Sorbus cuspidata (Spach) Hedl. are nom. illegit., probably owing to citation of ‘Sorbus vestita Lodd. Cat.’ by Spach while describing Crataegus cuspidata in 1852. Since the name Sorbus vestita in Loddiges’ catalogue is a nomen nudum, Crataegus cuspidata and Sorbus cuspidata (Spach) Hedl. are legitimate names. McAllister (pers. comm.) opines that throughout the Himalayas there seem to be intergradations between the described species, and regard them all as part of Sorbus vestita, but earliest name for this complex is S. lanata (D. Don) S. Schauer. However, Gabrielian (1978) placed these species in different subsections viz., Lanatae and Grandifoliae (as S. cuspidata). Further, Rushforth (1991, 1992) discussed elaborately the distinguishing characters of the Himalayan species and recognised them as separate entity. Aldasoro et al. (2004) also recognised the Himalayan species, including S. lanata and S. vestita as distinct species. 1Corresponding author: Email: vskumar10@rediffmail.com; V.Kumar@kew.org 2E-7, Greenfield, Shivtirth Nagar, Paud Road, Pune, Maharastra, India.    252 KUMAR AND KARTHIKEYAN   The correct citation of Sorbus vestita along with its variety is provided below: Sorbus vestita (Wall. ex G. Don) S. Schauer in Übers. Arbeiten Veränd. Schles. Ges. Vaterl. Kult. 1847: 292 (1848) & in Otto & Dietr., Allg. Gartenz. 17: 84 (1849); Long, Fl. Bhutan 1(3): 595 (1987); Aldasora et al., Syst. Bot. Monogr. 69: 82 (2004); Watson & Manandhar, Fl. Nepal 3: 315 (2011). Pyrus vestita Wall. [Cat. no. 679. 1828, nom. nud.] ex G. Don, Gen. Hist. 2: 647 (1832). Aria vestita (Wall. ex G. Don) M. Roem. in Fam. Nat. Syn. Monogr. 3 (Rosifl.) : 125 (1847). Pyrus vestita Wall. ex Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 375 (1878), isonym. Crataegus cuspidata Spach, Hist. Nat. Vég. 2: 106 (1834). Sorbus cuspidata (Spach) Hedl., Kongl. Svenska Vetensk.-Akad. Handl. 35 (1): 89 (1901); Stapf, Bot. Mag. 135: t. 8259 (1909); Yu et al., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 36: 297 (1974); Gabr., Genus Sorbus in E. Asia & Himal. : 146 (1978); Ohashi, Enum. Fl. Pl. Nepal 2: 147 (1979); Press et al., Ann. Checkl. Fl. Pl. Nepal : 271 (2000); Lu & Spongberg, Fl. China 9: 163 (2003); Ghora, Bull. Bot. Surv. India 49: 201 (2007). Pyrus crenata sensu Lindl. in Edwards's Bot. Reg. 20: t. 1655 (1835), non D. Don (1825). Sorbus crenata S. Schauer in Übers. Arbeiten Veränd. Schles. Ges. Vaterl. Kult. 1847: 292. 1848 & in Otto & Dietr., Allg. Gartenz. 17: 84 (1849). Pyrus crenata Hort. ex K. Koch, Dendrologie 1: 192 (1869), non D. Don (1825). Type: India, Uttrakhand, Kumaon, Wall. Cat. no. 679 (K!, lectotype; BM!, ERE, G!, L!, LE, W!, isolectotypes). Sorbus vestita var. khasiana (Hook. f.) Karthik. et V. S. Kumar comb. nov. Pyrus vestita var. khasiana Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 375. 1878; Kanjilal & Das, Fl. Assam 2: 217 (1938). Sorbus cuspidata var. khasiana (Hook. f.) Ghora in Bull. Bot. Surv. India 49: 202. 2007. Type: India, Meghalaya, Khasia, 5 – 6000 ft., J.D. Hooker & T. Thomson s.n. (K – not traceable). Note: Schauer (1848) cited Pyrus crenata Royle, which probably an unpublished name. Lindley in Bot. Reg. t. 1655, which is also cited by Schauer, provided the information given by Royle about the distribution, flowering period and other aspects of this species, which confirms it is different from Pyrus crenata of D. Don, as opined by J. D. Hooker (1878). D. Don’s species was regarded as synonym of P. pashia Buch.-Ham. ex D. Don by Ghora and Panigrahi (1995: 400), but Watson (2011) feels, “it is more likely that this name refers to a species of Photinia, Cotoneaster or Eriobotrya”. Acknowledgements The first author expresses his gratitude to the Acting Keeper, HLAA, RBG, Kew for providing all the facilities and to the Library in-charges of RHS, Lindley and RBG, Kew for permitting to access the archives. References Aldasora, J.J., Aedo, C., Garmendia, F.M., de la Hoz, F.P. and Navarro, C. 2004. Revision of Sorbus subgenera Aria and Torminaria (Rosaceae – Maloideae). Syst. Bot. Monogr. 69: 1-148. Gabrielian, E.T. 1978. The genus Sorbus in Eastern Asia and the Himalayas. Erevan, Armenia, 264 pp. Ghora, C. 2007. A new combination in Sorbus cuspidata (Spach) Hedlund (Rosaceae). Bull. Bot. Surv. India 49: 201-202. Ghora, C. and Panigrahi, G. 1995. The family Rosaceae in India (Revisionary studies on six genera). Vol. 2. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun, India, pp. 1-481. Hooker. J.D. 1878. Rosaceae. In: Flora of British India. Vol. 2. L. Reeve & Co., London, pp. 307-388. NOMENCLATURAL NOTES ON SORBUS VESTITA 253   Long, D.G. 1987. Sorbus L. In: Grierson, A.J.C. and Long, D.G. (Eds), Flora of Bhutan. Vol. 1, Part 3. Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh and Royal Government of Bhutan, pp. 592-599. Loudon, J.C. 1854 (2nd edition). Arboretum et fruticetum Britannicum; or, The trees and shrubs of Britain, native and foreign, hardy and half-hardy, pictorially and botanically delineated, and scientifically and popularly described; with their propagation, culture, management. Vol. 2. London. pp. 496-1256. Lu, L.T. and Spongberg, S.A. 2003. Sorbus L. In: Wu, Z. and Raven, P.H. (Eds), Flora of China. Vol. 9. Science Press, Beijing and Missouri Botanic Garden Press, St. Louis, pp. 144-170. Ohashi, H. 1979. Sorbus L. In: Hara, H. and Williams, L.H.J. (Eds), An Enumeration of the Flowering Plants of Nepal. Vol. 2. Trustees of British Museum (Natural History), London, pp. 147-148. Press, J.R., Shrestha, K.K. and Sutton, D.A. 2000. Rosaceae. An annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal. The Natural History Museum, London, pp. 260-272. Rushforth, K. 1991. Bhutaneses Sorbi. The Plantsman 13(2): 111-124. Rushforth, K. 1992. Bhutanese Sorbi. Part 3: Whitebeams. The Plantsman 14(1): 54-62. Schauer, S. 1848. Ueber die Gattungen und Arten der Pomaceen, welche bei uns im Freien aushalten, besonders über deren geographische Verbreitung. Übers. Arbeiten Veränd. Schles. Ges. Vaterl. Kult. 1847: 282-307. Watson, M.F. 2011. Pyrus L. In: Watson, M.F., Akiyama, S., Ikeda, H., Pendry, C.A., Rajbhandari, K.R. and Shrestha, K.K. (Eds), Flora of Nepal. Vol. 3. Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, pp. 322-323. Watson, M.F. and Manandhar, V.K. 2011. Sorbus L. In: Watson, M.F., Akiyama, S., Ikeda, H., Pendry, C.A., Rajbhandari, K.R. and Shrestha, K.K. (Eds), Flora of Nepal. Vol. 3. Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, pp. 312-321. Yu, T.T., Lu, L.T., Ku, T.C., Li, C.L., Kuan, K.C. and Chiang, W.F. 1974. Rosaceae (1): Spiraeoideae- Maloideae. In: Yu, T.T. (Ed.), Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae delectis florae Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae Agendae Academiae Sinicae Edita, Vol. 36. Science Press, Beijing, 443 pp. (Manuscript received on 8 March 2013; revised on 9 October 2013)