Plukenetia conophora, Mull. Arg.

Cardinal-McTeague, Warren M. & Gillespie, Lynn J., 2020, A Revised Sectional Classification of Plukenetia L. (Euphorbiaceae, Acalyphoideae) with Four New Species from South America, Systematic Botany (Basel, Switzerland) 45 (3), pp. 507-536 : 515

1. PLUKENETIA CONOPHORA Müll.Arg. , Flora 47: 530 1864.

Angostylidium conophorum (Müll.Arg.) Pax & K.Hoffm. in A.Engler (ed.), Pflanzenr. IV, 147, IX (Heft 68): 17. 1919. Cleidion mannii Baker, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1910 (2): 58. 1910, nom. illeg. Tetracarpidium conophorum (Müll.Arg.) Hutch. & Dalziel, Fl. W. Trop. Afr. 1: 307. 1928.

TYPE: CAMEROON. River Cameroon , January 1863, G. Mann 2202 (lectotype designated by Gillespie 2007: K! [barcode K000425658 ] ; isolectotypes: K! [barcode K000425659 ] , K! [barcode K000425660 ] ).

Mallotus preussii Pax, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 23 (4): 525. 1897. Cleidion preussii (Pax) Baker, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1910 (9): 343. 1910. TYPE: CAMEROON. Barombistation, 25 August 1890, P.R. Preuss 420 (holotype: B [destroyed]; lectotype designated here: K! [barcode K000252567]; isolectotype: BM! [barcode 000535904 (BM)]).

Tetracarpidium staudtii Pax, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 26 (3–4): 329. 1899. TYPE: CAMEROON. Station Johann-Albrechtschöhe , 15 January 1897, A. Staudt 802 (holotype: B [destroyed]; lectotype designated here: BM! [barcode 000535187 (BM)]; isolectotypes: G [barcode G00414564; image!], K! [barcode K000425656; sketch of holotype with floral fragments], MO! [accession 1648824, barcode MO-2289110 ], PH [accession 01078710, barcode 00030257; image!]).

Notes —See Gillespie (2007) for species description.

Taxonomic Discussion — Plukenetia conophora and sect. Angostylidium were simultaneously described by Müller (1864). Subsequent authors described taxa that are now treated as synonyms, including Mallotus preussii ( Pax 1897) and the novel genus and species Tetracarpidium staudtii ( Pax 1899) . Furthermore, Baker (1910) described Cleidion mannii from P. conophora syntype material (“River Cameroon.” G. Mann 2202) but erroneously cited the type as “ Cameroons river, G. Mann 1202 ” (that specimen is recorded as Pittosporum viridiflorum “mannii ” Sims, “Mount Cameroon,” G. Mann 1202 (K000106232). Baker appears to have described Cleidion mannii from the only G. Mann 2202 sheet at Kew that was not annotated as Müller’ s P. conophora (K000425659).

The holotype of Mallotus preussii is presumed to have been in Berlin, where Pax worked and Preuss’ s main collections were housed. Since the type was likely destroyed, we designate a lectotype from an isotype housed at Kew, given it has abundant staminate flowers. Under a similar circumstance we designate a lectotype for Tetracarpidium staudtii , selecting the isotype with the most abundant leaf and pistillate flower material housed at the British Museum. Alois Staudt was the collection assistant of G. Zenker in Cameroon, so we presume his collections were part of Zenker’ s main set that was destroyed in Berlin.