Diospyros leucocalyx Hiern

Schatz, George E., Lowry Ii, Porter P., Mas, Cyrille & Callmander, Martin W., 2013, Further nomenclatural notes on Malagasy Diospyros L. (Ebenaceae): Goudot types in the Geneva herbarium, Candollea 68 (2), pp. 307-309 : 307

1. Diospyros leucocalyx Hiern in Trans. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 12: 267. 1873.

Typus: MADAGASCAR: Ambanivoules , 1833, Goudot s.n. (holo-: G [ G00368907 ]!).

= Diospyros megasepala Baker in J. Linn Soc., Bot. 21: 423. 1885.

Typus: MADAGASCAR: Central Madagascar , s.d., Baron 2365 (holo-: K [ K000350806 ]!; iso-: P [ P00541783 ]!).

Observations. – Diospyros leucocalyx was described in HIERN’ s Monograph of Ebenaceae (1873) with only a single collection cited as “ Madagascar, Ambanivoule, Goudot! A. D. 1833”. Later, PERRIER DE LA BÂTHIE (1952a, 1952b) placed D. leucocalyx into synonymy under D. gracilipes Hiern , but failed to cite the Goudot specimen in either publication. A specimen in the Geneva herbarium with the label “ Madagascar. M. Goudot 1833.” [printed], and “petit arbrisseau. Ambanivoules (frts.) Voir le fruit.” [handwritten] must certainly be the type of D. leucocalyx Hiern. Based on the extremely large female calyx and large leaves, Laurent Gautier (G) annotated the specimen in 1995 as the long recognized but later published D. megasepala Baker , which must now be placed into synonymy under D. leucocalyx .

With regard to the location of Goudot’s collection, “Ambanivoules” likely refers to an ethnic group of Malagasy, and corresponds to “Antanbanivolo”, or “people living at the base of the mountains covered with bamboos”. In his compendium on the Delessert herbarium and library, LASÉGUE (1845: 188) includes an entry on Goudot in which he discusses where Goudot collected in Madagascar: “…chez les Ambanivoules, dans la chaîne des hautes montagnes qui s’étendent du nord au sud de l’île, à 20 ou 25 lieues [approximately 80 to 100 km] de Tamatave. Il a herborisé, en 1832, dans les environs de la petite riviÈre de Manaarez, qui prend sa source dans les montagnes des Ambanivoules, ainsi que sur les bords et dans les épaisses forêts qui suivent le cours d’Yvondrou [Ivondro], riviÈre qui sépare le territoire des BétanimÈnes de celui des Ambanivoules”.