Aralia serrata, Doweld, 2017

Doweld, Alexander B., 2017, New names in Aralia (Araliaceae), living and fossil, Phytotaxa 297 (1), pp. 62-70 : 66

VII. Aralia serrata

The fossil Aralia serrata Knowlton (1917: 341) [IFPNI: http://fossilplants.info/names/ FCA014D3-A357-4BFA-8427-9FAC3C479459] was described on the basis of fossil leaf remains from the Palaeocene sediments of Colorado, USA, but was attributed to Aralia with doubts. However, Knowlton overlooked that the name has already been used by another fossil Aralia serrata Saporta (1865: 158) [IFPNI: http://fossilplants.info/names/ 18448367-BCA6-410D- BE13-C33682AA9A38], which was described on the basis of fossil leaves from the Oligocene sediments of Armissan, near Narbonne, France. Later, McGinitie (1941) questioned Knowlton’s initial attribution of fossil leaves to Aralia , noticing the difference in venation between fossil and extant forms, and suggested its putative relationship with the genus Platanus Linnaeus (1753: 999) . He did not formally transfer Aralia serrata Knowlton , nom. illeg., to Platanus , which is done here due to the necessity to replace the later homonymic name and exclude it from the genus Aralia , acknowledging the distinction in leaf venation: