Dioscorea theresensis (R.Knuth) Raz, 2016

Raz, Lauren, 2016, Untangling the West Indian Dioscoreaceae: New combinations, lectotypification and synonymy, Phytotaxa 258 (1), pp. 26-48 : 39

17. Dioscorea theresensis (R.Knuth) Raz , comb. nov. Rajania theresensis Uline ex Knuth (1917: 221) . Type— UNKNOWN. Ile Ste. Therese, pres Cuba, 1848, Gibollet s.n. ♂ (holotype G!, isotype B!, phototype of the G sheet at NY!). The protologue does not include a holotype designation, but the 1924 monograph (p. 337) explicitly states, “Typus in herb. Barbey-Boissier”

Notes: The locality of the type collection remains something of a mystery. “Ile Ste. Therese” is not registered in English, French or Spanish in any gazetteer in Cuba or elsewhere in the West Indies. The only known island of this name is off the east coast of Canada, but the R. theresensis type is most certainly of West Indian origin. The same Gibollet locality has been cited for collections of three Cyperaceae taxa, included in Clarke (1900). The locality is considered in that work to be an independent island in the West Indies, not a territory of any sovereign nation.

Despite having been described from only the type collection, this species does appear to represent a distinct biological entity.The Wright 1712 duplicate that I have designated “YU 2B” is consistent with the type of R. theresensis , with its turbinate flower and narrow, elongate tepals. Unfortunately its locality is also uncertain, (the label states only “ Cuba ”) and it is mounted on a sheet that also includes species from Pinar del Rio and south central Cuba.