Abutilon, Mill.

Nimbalkar, Varsha Vilasrao & Sardesai, Milind Madhav, 2025, The Genus Abutilon (Malvaceae: Malvoideae) in India: A Taxonomic Revision and Insights from Micromorphology of Seeds, Systematic Botany (Basel, Switzerland) 49 (4), pp. 708-742 : 710-711

ABUTILON Mill ., Gard. Dict. Abr. Ed. 4 (1754).

NEOTYPE, designated by Shuttleworth, A. Gray in Pl. Wright 2: 65 (footnote) (1852): Abutilon theophrasti Medik. [= Sida abutilon L.].

Notes — Miller (1754) published valid genus epithets including Abutilon , but without species epithets and type. He instead gave numbers to different variations in Abutilon . Therefore, the genus lacks type species from Miller’ s work. In 1988, Fryxell stated that the lectotype is assigned to the generic name Abutilon by Britton and Brown (1913) and Britton and Millspaugh (1920); but it becomes incorrect as per Art. 10.6 and 10.7 of ICN. He further noted that Shuttleworth (ex A. Gray 1852, a footnote on Beloere ) cited A. avicennae (1791) as a type of the genus. The similarity between Miller’ s ‘species no. 1’ and Sida abutilon is highlighted by Fryxell (1988) based on Miller’ s statement regarding occurrence of the ‘Species no. 1’, i.e. “its common occurrence in Virginia and most parts of America.” The similarity also correlates with the introduction of this plant for fiber production in America in the 1750 s (Spencer 1984). Further, although A. avicennae is a superfluous name for Sida abutilon L., it is homotypic with A. theophrasti Medik. Therefore, Shuttleworth (1852) inadvertently cited S. abutilon L. as a neotype for the genus Abutilon Mill. by referring A. avicennae as the type.

KEY TO ABUTILON SPECIES IN INDIA

1. Flowers 4–5 on cymes..................................................................................................................... 2

2. Fruits 6–7 mm in diameter; seed hilum glabrous.............................................................................. A. ramosum

2. Fruits 10–15 mm in diameter; seed hilum stellate pubescent.................................................................. A. neelgerrense

1. Flowers solitary.......................................................................................................................... 3

3. Carpels 5–10........................................................................................................................ 4

4. Plants up to 1 m tall; leaves acute; fruits 6–8 mm in diameter; seeds triangular, compressed, surface with hook-like hairs...... A. fruticosum

4. Plants 2–5 m tall; leaves acuminate; fruits 15–20 mm in diameter; seeds globular, surface warted, glabrous...............................5

5. Flowers drooping, corolla campanulate; staminal tube 25–30 mm, glabrous; warts on seed surface 40–50 M m in diameter..... A. ranadei

5. Flowers erect, corolla not campanulate; staminal tube 2–3 mm, densely pubescent; warts on seed surface 10–25 M m in diameter.......................................................................................................... A. persicum

3. Carpels 12–30(–33)................................................................................................................... 6

6. Mericarps 12–18................................................................................................................ 7

7. Fruiting calyx as long as or exceeding the fruit; seed surface densely pubescent with long hairs (250–400 μ m), hilum glabrous....................................................................................................... A. australiense

7. Fruiting calyx much shorter than the fruit; seeds surface glabrous or pubescent with short hairs (100–120 μ m), hilum pubescent.......8

8. Flowering pedicel less than 1 cm long, staminal tube less than 1 mm long, seed surface pubescent with short simple hairs (100–120 M m), hilum pubescent with short simple hairs......................................................... A. theophrasti

8. Flowering pedicel more than 2 cm long; staminal tube 3–8 mm long; seed surface glabrous; hilum pubescent with a tuft of long stellate hairs (300–350 M m).............................................................................................. 9

9. Flower about 1.5 cm across; staminal tube 2.5–3 mm; fruits 0.8 to 1 cm long; mericarps 12–13 each with an awn 2–3 mm long; top of warts on seeds deeply concave.................................................................... A. bidentatum

9. Flower 2.5–3 cm across; staminal tube 5–8 mm; fruits 1.5–2 cm long; mericarps 14–18 with mucro; top of warts on seed plane.................................................................................................... A. indicum

6. Mericarps more than 20........................................................................................................ 10

10. Seeds glabrous.................................................................................................. A. guineense

10. Seeds densely pubescent..................................................................................................11

11. Fruits green, pubescent with short stellate and many glandular hairs; seeds pubescent with 50–100 μ m hairs......... A. hirtum

11. Fruits silvery or lanate, pubescent with long stellate and no glandular hairs; seeds pubescent with 150–200 (–300) μ m hairs.................................................................................................... A. pannosum