Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 25(2): 295–297, 2018 (December) - Short communication 
© 2018 Bangladesh Association of Plant Taxonomists 

 

LECTOTYPIFICATION IN ARDISIA ALATA H.R. FLETCHER 
(PRIMULACEAE) 

 

WANNACHAI CHATAN1 AND WILAWAN PROMPROM 
 

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham University,  
Kantharawichai, Mahasarakham 44150, Thailand 

 
Keywords: Ardisia alata; Myrsinaceae; Nomenclature; Thailand; Typification. 

 
 The genus Ardisia Swartz (Primulaceae) consists of about 400-500 species (Chen and Pipoly 
III, 1996) and it is pantropical, mainly tropical Amercas and Asia, a few in temperate Japan (Ståhl 
and Anderberg, 2004). Among these, Ardisia alata H.R. Fletcher is an endemic species found in 
Takuapa and Kapong districts under Phangnga Province of Thailand, as cited in the first 
protologue. Ardisia alata belongs to the subgenus Pyrgus Mez of the genus Ardisia (Larsen and 
Hu, 1996). Some of the distinguishing morphological characters of A. alata from other members 
of the subgenus Pyrgus include short inflorescence (2-5 cm), branches bearing few florets (1-2 
florets) and distinctly winged petiole (Larsen and Hu, 1996). 

 During a taxonomic revision of the genus Ardisia in Thailand, we studied both the protologue 
and the type specimens of A. alata kept in main herbaria (both in Europe and Thailand), we found 
that when H.R. Fletcher, the author, published the name A. alata as a new species, cited the 
specimens “Kerr 17125” (full collector name written on the herbarium sheet was A. F. G. Kerr) as 
the plant from Thailand in Phangnga Province (Takuapa and Kapong districts) (Fletcher, 1937), 
but did not designate the holotype. We found that there were four duplicates of the specimens 
“A.F.G. Kerr 17125” kept in BK, BM, E and K. The specimen kept in E is a syntype as a detail 
notes on the herbarium sheet, but there are no notes on the herbarium sheets of the remaining three 
specimens and all of them were regarded as syntypes [Art. 9.6 of the ICN (Turland et al., 2018)], 
so the name A. alata needs a lectotypification. Among the three duplicates of A.F.G. Kerr 17125, 
the one kept in K (barcode K000756775) was a perfect match to the description given in the 
protologue and there were both branches and flowers on the herbarium specimen, and therefore, 
this specimen is selected as the lectotype. The lectotypification of this name is provided as 
follows: 
 
Ardisia alata H.R. Fletcher, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1937(1): 26 (1937). 
Lectotype (designated here): Thailand. Phangnga Province (Takuapa and Kapong districts): alt. 
ca. 100 m., by stream in evergreen forest, 17 Feb. 1929, A. F. G. Kerr 17125 (K barcode 
K000756775 [digital photograph!]); isolectotype: BK!, BM [digital photograph!], E [digital 
photograph!]).  
 

                                                             
1Corresponding Author. Email: wannachaichatan@gmail.com   

mailto:wannachaichatan@gmail.com


296 CHATAN AND PROMPROM 

 

 
 
Fig. 1.  Ardisia alata H.R. Fletcher [Kerr 17125 (lectotype, K barcode K000756775)]. Reproduced with 

permission of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K). 
 
 



LECTOTYPIFICATION IN ARDISIA ALATA 297 

 

Acknowledgements  
 The authors are indebted to the curators and officers in BK, BM, E and K for their help on 
providing information on the type specimens for the study. The authors are thankful to Dr. Jolyon 
Dodgson, Faculty of Science, Mahasarakham University for linguistic advice. This research was 
financially supported by Mahasarakham University. 
 
References  
Chen, J. and Pipoly, J.J. III. 1996.  Myrsinaceae. In: Wu, Z.Y. and Raven, P.H. (Eds), Flora of China. Vol. 15 

(Myrsinaceae through Loganiaceae). Science Press, Beijing, and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. 
Louis, pp. 1–38.  

Fletcher, H.R. 1937. Contributions to the Flora of Siam, Additamentum. XLI. Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 
1937(1): 26–44. 

Larsen, K.  and Hu, C.-M. 1996. Myrsinaceae. In: Larsen, K. (Ed.), Flora of Thailand. Vol. 6(2). Diamond 
Printing, Bangkok, Thailand, pp. 81–178.  

Ståhl, B. and Anderberg, A.A. 2004. Myrsinaceae In: Kubitzki, K. (Ed.), The Families and Genera of 
Vascular Plants 6. Springer, Berlin, pp. 266–281. 

Turland, N.J., Wiersema, J.H., Barrie, F.R., Greuter, W., Hawksworth, D.L., Herendeen, P.S., Knapp, S., 
Kusber, W.-H., Li, D.-Z., Marhold, K., May, T.W., McNeill, 70 J., Monro, A.M., Prado, J., Price, M.J. 
and Smith, G.F. (Eds) 2018. International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (Shenzhen 
Code) adopted by the Nineteenth International Botanical Congress Shenzhen, China, July 2017. Regnum 
Vegetabile 159. Glashütten: Koeltz Botanical Books.  

 
 

(Manuscript received on 12 February 2018; revised on 4 November 2018).