Name Changes for Well Known Species of Boehmeria (Urticaceae)

Abstract

Summary. Preparation of an account of the Urticaceae for the Flore des Mascareignes and preparatory work on the family for the Flora of Tropical East Africa and the Flora of Ethiopia has brought to light two unfortunate changes of names in the genus Boehmeria-not merely changes, but a switch of name: B. macrophylla has to be removed from one well-known species and applied to one even more widely known. The Himalayan species long known as B. macrophylla D. Don (1825) requires a new name since there exists the older B. macrophylla Hornem. (1815). The new name for this species, which is naturalised on La Reunion and Mauritius in the Mascarenes, will shortly be published by D. G. Long (of Edinburgh) who is working on the Flora of Bhutan. B. macrophylla Hornem. turns out to be the oldest name for the Asiatic and African species previously known as B. platyphylla D. Don (1825). It appears from Hornemann's protologue (Hornemann (1815)) that his B. macrophylla was introduced to the Copenhagen Botanical Garden in 1810. The country of origin is not indicated, and we have been unable to find additional information from the Garden's archives. As Hornemann usually states the country of origin as accurately as possible, it seems likely that the material came from another botanical garden. A specimen ofB. macrophylla was preserved in 1813 and is still at C, annotated in what could be Hornemann's own hand. The specimen has been compared with material at Kew, and its identity with B. platyphylla D. Don confirmed. B. platyphylla is a very widespread and variable species, in our opinion distributed from West Africa to Indo-China. The eastern limit is not easily established, but it is certain that Weddell (1869) was wrong in including the following earlier taxa from China, Japan and Polynesia in B. platyphylla: B. spicata (Thunb.) Thunb., B. japonica (L.f.) Miq., and B. virgata (G. Forst.) Guillem. Two other early names are relevant here: Urtica caudata Burm.f. (1768) and Urtica macrophylla Thunb. (1784). U. caudata Burm.f. is described from Java and is probably conspecific with B. macrophylla Hornem., but a combination based on this basionym would not be permissible in Boehmeria because of the existence of B. caudata Swartz (1788). Urtica macrophylla Thunb. is also a Boehmeria, although in our opinion distinct from B. platyphylla D. Don. Neither Hornemann nor D. Don makes any reference to U. macrophylla