Benstonea copelandii (Merr.) Callm. & Buerki

Callmander, Martin W., Lowry Ii, Porter P., Forest, Félix, Devey, Dion S., Beentje, Henk & Buerki, Sven, 2012, Benstonea Callm. & Buerki (Pandanaceae): characterization, circumscription, and distribution of a new genus of screw-pines, with a synopsis of accepted species, Candollea 67 (2), pp. 323-345 : 332-333

13. Benstonea copelandii (Merr.) Callm. & Buerki , comb. nova.

≡ Pandanus copelandii Merr. in Publ. Bur. Sci. Gov. Lab. 17: 7. 1904.

Typus: PHILIPPINES. Negros: Gimagong River , 5.I.1904, Copeland 140 ( PNG destroyed ; iso-: FI not located). Neotypus (designated here): PHILIPPINES. Sorsogon Prov. (Luzon): Mt. Bulusan , Irosin, IV.1916, fr., Elmer 15267 ( G [ G00353830 ]! ; isoneo-: FI [ FI003948 ] image seen, K, L, MO!, P [ P01754716 ]!, U, UC [ UC273333 ] image seen, US [ US01115658 ] image seen).

= Pandanus copelandii var. panchoi B. C. Stone in Fed. Mus. J. 23: 25. 1978.

Typus: PHILIPPINES. Sorsogon Prov. (Luzon): Gubat, 25.X.1960, fr., Pancho & Bardenas 4820 (holo-: CAHP),

syn. nov.

Distribution and ecology. – Benstonea copelandii is endemic to the Philippines (ranging from Luzon to Mindanao).

Observations. – The holotype, deposited at the herbarium in Manila ( PNG), was destroyed during World War II, but a fragment has been located in FI. The original collection was rather incomplete, comprising only a few drupes, which were illustrated in MARTELLI (1914: Tab. 31, Fig. 5- 7) and ST. JOHN (1969: 357, Fig. 295). We have not been able to locate the duplicate material at FI despite an extensive search. Aneotype (Elmer 15267) is therefore designated here. This collection is complete and well represented in several herbaria. Pandanus copelandii var. panchoi is considered as a synonym. It was described on the basis of a collection bearing only a single syncarp (vs 3-8 crowded, spicate syncarp in the remaining collections of Benstonea copelandii ), but is considered to fall within the morphological variation of the species, even though it is rather atypical and is documented only by a single collection.