Note on Nomenclature and Typification of Eulophia hians Spreng. (Orchidaceae)

Abstract

In 1781 the younger Linnaeus published the name Satyrium hians, based on a collection by C. P. Thunberg from the South African Cape. The only collection bearing this name in the Linnaean Herbarium (LINN: T 321, Linn. Herb. No. 1055.8) is a specimen of Herschelianthe hians (L. f.) Rauschert (syn. Herschelia hians (L. f.) A. V. Hall, Disa hians (L. f.) Spreng.). His description fits this concept well. Thirteen years later Thunberg (1794) made the combination Limodorum hians citing Satyrium hians as the basionym. His accompanying brief description stated little more than that the flowers were slightly pendulous. However, in Flora Capensis, Thunberg (1807) gave a full description of a plant quite different from a Herschelianthe. He described a plant with a three-lobed, spurred lip. In the Thunberg herbarium, Uppsala (UPS), there is a single specimen bearing the name Limodorum hians and fitting Thunberg's description. This specimen is not Herschelianthe, but belongs to the taxon currently known as Eulophia clavicornis Lindl. var. clavicornis.