Dioscorea introrsa Raz, 2016

Raz, Lauren, 2016, Untangling the West Indian Dioscoreaceae: New combinations, lectotypification and synonymy, Phytotaxa 258 (1), pp. 26-48 : 35

9. Dioscorea introrsa Raz , nom. nov. Rajania nipensis Howard (1947: 117) . Type:— CUBA. Oriente [Holguin]: Sierra de Nipe , near Woodfred, 28–9 July, 1941, Howard 6136a (holotype GH! (♂); isotypes GH! (3 specimens: 2 ♂ only, the third is a ♀ element mounted on the same sheet as the holotype), NY! (♂), US! (♂ ))

Rajania wrightii auct non Uline ex Knuth (1917: 221), Knuth (1924: 337), León (1946: 323).

Notes: Endemic to eastern Cuba. This is one of the species included in the mishmash of Wright 1712 collections (see D. cephalocarpa ). Elements that correspond to D. introrsa include: BM “1A”, BM “1B”, GH “1”, K“1”, MO, NY “4A”, S “2A”, S “2B”, and US “1C”. It is difficult to determine which (if any) of these elements Knuth (1917) included in his confused formulation of Rajania wrightii , the name is included here in synonymy based on citation (1924, p. 337) of the Ekman specimens (see D. confusa ).

When Howard described R. nipensis 24 years later, he cited only one collection number, and designated the “type” from GH. There are however, a total of three sheets at GH. Howard’s Latin diagnosis includes characters of the staminate flowers only, but is followed by the comment “in the collection cited above is a single pistillate specimen tangled with the staminate shoots selected as the type.” Of the three sheets at GH, only one has mixed elements. There is also a staminate-only sheet with the word “TYPE” printed on the label, but it is far inferior to the staminate specimen in the mixed sheet. Based on Howard’s comment and diagnosis, the staminate element of the mixed sheet is here interpreted to be the holotype.