taxonID	type	description	language	source
13498781FFCE2671C5DCFEFDFE785805.taxon	description	Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 980. 1891. Lectotype (designated here): INDIA, Sikkim, “ inter vicos Rinchingpong et Yoksun, T. Anderson 1066, Herb. Sikkimensis ” CAL [CAL 0000020209!]; residual syntypes CAL [CAL 0000020208!, CAL 0000020207!, CAL 0000266931!]).]) Justicia atkinsonii T. Anderson var. pubescens P. Rai, Pleione 16: 240.2022. syn. nov. Type: INDIA, Sikkim, Namchi, Nandugaon village, N 27 ° 09 ’ 47.08 ”, 88 ° 19 ’ 29.00 ” E, 900 m, 07.09.2020, Pramod Rai P 0191 (holo BSHC [Acc. no. 0301!]). Figs. 1 & 2 Subshrubs up to 1 m tall. Stem erect, angular, dichotomously branched; branches green to purplish green, glabrous to puberulous, rooting at lower nodes; internodes c. 5.5 – 6 cm long; nodes swollen. Leaves simple, petiolate; laminae broadly elliptic to ovate, 8 – 22 × 8.8 – 9.5 cm, base attenuate, rarely oblique, margins crenate, apex acuminate, chartaceous, puberulous on both surfaces with dense hairs on ribs; veins prominent; petiole 5 – 7 cm long, greenish, puberulous. Inflorescence axillary and terminal spikes, up to 15 cm long; peduncle 5 – 10.5 cm long, unbranched, puberulous. Flowers sessile, subtended by one bract and two bracteoles; bracts imbricate, foliaceous, ovate to widely ovate, 1 – 1.1 × 0.8 – 0.9 cm, base obtuse, margin entire to subdentate, ciliate, apex cuspidate, obscurely 3 – 5 - nerved, puberulous, greenish with purplish apex; bracteoles 2, equal, 4 – 6 × 0.5 – 1 mm, lanceolate, margins ciliate, apex narrowly acute, pubescent, green with purplish tinge. Calyx 5 - lobed; lobes equal, lanceolate, c. 4 × 0.5 mm, shorter than bracts, margin ciliate, apex narrowly acute, pubescent, green. Corolla bilabiate, creamy white with purple striations on lips, pubescent outside, glabrous inside, throat hairy; tube narrow, c. 1.1 cm long; upper lip 2 - lobed, oblanceolate, c. 5 × 3 mm, margin entire, apex retuse; lower lip 3 - lobed, obovate, c. 4 × 3 mm, recurved, lobe rounded; rugula enclosing the style, c. 12 mm long. Stamens 2, filaments c. 4 mm long, slightly curved at apex, whitish, glabrous; anthers 2 - lobed; thecae equal, parallel, upper theca lying at an angle to the lower theca, ovoid, c. 2 mm long, lower theca spurred at base and upper theca with rudimentary appendage which is less than half the length of the spur, sub dorsifixed, dehiscence longitudinal, yellow. Ovary superior, ovoid, c. 1 × 0.5 mm, minutely pilose, bilocular with 4 ovules; style terminal, filiform, c. 1.4 cm long, sparsely pubescent up to middle, white, pinkish towards apex; stigma 2 - lobed, pink to purplish. Capsule clavate, 1.3 – 1.5 cm long, 4 - seeded, tomentose. Seeds suborbicular, c. 3 mm long; testa tuberculate. Flowering & fruiting: Flowering and fruiting from September to November. Habitat: Shady places along stream sides in deep tropical valleys between 600 – 1500 m altitude. Distribution: INDIA (Sikkim, West Bengal). Specimens examined: INDIA, Sikkim, Runglee (Rongli), 11.10.1877, G. King 5061 (CAL [Acc. No. 342655!]); Namchi, 1878, G. King 2557 (CAL [Acc. No. 342638!]); 5000 ft, s. d., S. Kurz 408817 (CAL!). West Bengal, Darjeeling, Pomong, 2000 ft, 31.10.1870, C. B. Clarke 13634, (US [02881756, 02881757 digital images!]). Notes on typification: In the protologue of Justicia atkinsonii, Anderson (1867) cited the type details as “ inter vicos Rinchingpong et Yoksun, n. 1066, herb Sikkimensis, T. Anders. v. v. ” indicating that live specimens were seen by Anderson between Rinchingpong and Yoksun. We traced four sheets at CAL collected by T. Anderson all with the number 1066. However, on one sheet (CAL 0000020208), the location is mentioned Rishi to Rinchinpoong, at an altitude of 2500 ’ with the date of collection 01.10.1862. On the second sheet (CAL 0000020209), the location is Yuksom, at an elevation of 4500 ’ with the date of collection as 08.10.1862. The third sheet (CAL 0000020207), shows a place named Gassing, (now Geyzing), and the fourth sheet (CAL 0000266931), the location is Seminbong (Samdong) to Reachy (Rishi), the last two sheets were not mentioned in the protologue, but both bear the same number in printed herbarium labels of Calcutta Herbarium (“ Herb. Hort. Bot. Calcuttensis ”). So, all the above-mentioned specimens can be considered as original material according to Art 9.4 (Turland et al., 2018). From the location details available on the four sheets, it is clear, that Anderson collected these specimens during his travel, moving from Seminbong to Rishi (CAL 0000266931!) on 30.09.1862 then from Rishi to Rinchingpong (CAL 0000020208!) on 01.10.1862 to Yoksun [Yuksom] (CAL 0000020209!) on 08.10.1862 and to Gassing (CAL 0000020207!), which is in between “ Rinchingpong and Yoksun ” at an unknown date. In the Flora of Pan Himalaya, Deng (2020) cited the type of Justicia atkinsonii as “ Type: [Sikkim & Darjiling] India, Sikkim, “ inter vicos Rinchingpong et Yoksun ”, T. Anderson herb. Sikkimensis 1066 (K) ”. Following a comprehensive investigation and in-person contact with the curator, we confirmed that no Justicia atkinsonii specimens collected by T. Anderson are kept at the Kew Herbarium. The specimen collected from “ Yoksun ” with barcode CAL 0000020209 is selected here as the lectotype in accordance to Article 9.3, 9.11 and 9.12 (Turland et al., 2018) which is in best preserved state among the syntypes and it better represents the taxon in terms of morphological characters. Moreover, among the syntypes, the authors did a first- hand study of the herbarium specimen and its floral parts from the sheet with barcode CAL 0000020209 which was used for redescribing the taxon with amendments. Status of Justicia atkinsonii var. pubescens Rai (2022) described a new variety, Justicia atkinsonii var. pubescens P. Rai distinguishing it from typical J. atkinsonii by its puberulent (vs. glabrous) adaxial leaf surfaces, entire bracts (vs. subdentate), and pubescent and mixed pilose to puberulent abaxial and adaxial surface of the bracts, respectively (vs sparsely hairy on both surface) as well as a sparsely pilose (vs. glabrous) style. In our study of the morphological variation in J. atkinsonii, we observed that all the variations mentioned by Rai fall well within the range of the type. Our examination of type materials revealed that both leaf surfaces of Justicia atkinsonii are puberulent, the margins of the bracts are subdentate and puberulous on both surfaces, and the style is sparsely pubescent in its lower half. Anderson (1867) did not mention any distinguishing reproductive structures for this taxon. Rai (2022) did not demonstrate that J. atkinsonii var. pubescens differed from typical J. atkinsonii in any features except for the sparsely pilose style in the newly described variety compared to the supposed glabrous style of typical J. atkinsonii. This clearly indicates that the distinguishing characters mentioned by Rai (2022) do not delineate a new taxon. Consultation of multiple herbarium specimens deposited at BSHC, CAL, and US also indicates that the distribution range of the species is between 600 m to 1500 m. Therefore, we conclude that there are no substantial differences between these two taxa, and J. atkinsonii var. pubescens is hereby reduced to a new heterotypic synonym of J. atkinsonii T. Anderson.	en	S., Goswami, P., Soumya, Dash, S. S. (2024): Amended description and lectotypification of JUstiCia atkinsonii with a new synonym. Rheedea 34 (3): 192-196, DOI: 10.22244/rheedea.2024.34.03.03
