Meiogyne punctulata (Baill.) I.M.Turner & Utteridge comb. nov.

urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77164171-1

Basionym: Melodorum punctulatum Baill., Adansonia 10: 107 (Baillon 1871). – Fissistigma punctulatum (Baill.) Merr., Philippine Journal of Science, Section C, Botany 15: 135 (Merrill 1919). – Type: New Caledonia, Sommet du Nékou, au dessus de Bourail, ca 600 m a.s.l., Mar. 1869, B. Balansa 1174 (holoneo-, designated here: P02006574; isoneo-: A00353979, P02006572, P02006573).

Unona tiebaghiensis Däniker, Vierteljahrsschrift der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Zürich 76: 161 (Däniker 1931). – Meiogyne tiebaghiensis (Däniker) Heusden, Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle. Section B, Adansonia: botanique phytochimie 18 (1–2): 81 (van Heusden 1996). –– Type: New Caledonia, am Abhang des Tiebaghi-massifs gegen Nordosten, 14 Mar. 1925, A. U. Däniker 1431 (holo-: Z000000864; iso-: P, Z000000862, Z000000863, Z000000865).

Regional distribution

New Caledonia.

Notes

Baillon described Melodorum punctulatum from New Caledonia. The reference to Pancher in the opening sentence of the protologue is the only clue to the type of the name. Guillaumin (1932) reported that Baillon’s type was lost; as did van Heusden (1996) who treated the name as dubious. She stated that Baillon’s description did not “fit exactly any of the “varieties” of Meiogyne tiebaghiense ”. As an exact fit is not required, rather a lack of serious conflict between the description and the type, we feel Baillon’s name cannot simply be ignored and make a new combination for it in Meiogyne . We follow the suggestion of Guillaumin (1932) that Balansa 1174 can be considered representative of Baillon’s species and designate the duplicate in the Paris Herbarium with Balansa’s original label as neotype. Johnson et al. (2013) chose a similar action in the case of Xylopia pancheri Baill. where the Pancher type to a Baillon name has also been lost.