A Revision of Rhodamnia (Myrtaceae)

Abstract

cinerea, collected by him in Sumatra and the Malay Islands and distinguished from Myrtus by 4-merous flowers and unilocular ovaries with paired, parietal placentas. Jack's new genus was overlooked by taxonomists for several years because of the destruction of most copies of his publications and nearly all of his herbarium by a fire on board ship (Merrill, 1952). His book, Descriptions of Malayan Plants, was republished several times, the first occasion by Hooker (1835), after which his genus was taken up by taxonomists. During the intervening period several new species were described that are now considered to belong to Rhodamnia and these were placed either in Myrtus or in Monoxora Wight (1831), a genus based on Myrtus spectabilis Blume, a species now recognized to be a synonym of R. cinerea. The first treatment of Rhodamnia was by Blume (1850) who recognized seven species, including four new combinations and two new species. Among the new combinations was that based on Myrtus trinervia Sm. from Australia, so establishing the genus in Australia. The species in the Dutch East Indies were reviewed by Miquel (1855), who described one new species. The Australian species were studied by Bentham (1867), who described two new species and who also suggested that R. trinervia (Sm.) Blume might be no more than an extreme form of the widely distributed Asiatic species, R. cinerea. Subsequent authors, such as Kurz (1877), Duthie (1879), King (19o0) and Gagnepain (192 ), misapplied the name R. trinervia to include Malayan and Asian species, especially R. cinerea. Ridley (1922) reinstated R. cinerea as the correct name for the Malayan species while Diels (1922) reviewed Rhodamnia in New Guinea, describing four new species collected in the Sepik region. The Australian species were described in detail by C. T. White (1937) who recognized seven species in Queensland and New South Wales including two new species. The name R. trinervia was shown to apply only to Australian plants which differed from R. cinerea in the racemose inflorescence, while in R. cinerea the flowers are clustered. In this account all specimens cited have been seen unless otherwise stated.