Triplaris americana Aubl.

Koenemann, Daniel Mark & Burke, Janelle M., 2025, A nomenclatural synopsis of the genus Triplaris (Polygonaceae), Phytotaxa 700 (2), pp. 115-146 : 118

Triplaris americana Aubl. (1775: 910, t.347), nom. illeg. (Art. 53.1 of ICBN)

Type (designated here):—[ FRENCH GUIANA]. Habitat in insulis fluvii Sinemariensis (on an island in the Sinnamary River) [1775], Aublet s.n. (lectotype: LINN [ LINN HS148-3, digital image!]).

Notes:— Aublet’s name (1775) is a later illegitimate homonym of Linnaeus’ (1759) according to Art. 53.1 of ICBN. Aublet (1775: 910) did not cite any syntype (Art. 9.6 of ICBN), but he provided a drawing (“Tabula 347”, image available at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/13828#page/156/mode/1up) which is part of the original material for the name. Brandbyge (1986) considered this drawing sufficiently detailed to synonymize Triplaris americana Aubl. with T. weigeltiana (Rchb.) Kuntze. Brandbyge’s act was consistent with the opinion of Chamisso (1833) who cautioned that the T. americana of different authors were not all the same species, many being very poorly known. Brandbyge (1986) did not designate a type for the Aublet T. americana . Our search for Aublet collections of Triplaris yielded two specimens, one at BM ( BM 993261), a known repository for Aublet specimens ( HUH-IB, 2022), and the other one at LINN-HS (no. 148.3). The BM specimen is an Aublet collection with an annotatation of the locality (“ Guyana.”) but without a date. The specimen has been annotated by Brandbyge as the probable type of Aublet’s T. americana . Additionally, the specimen itself superficially resembles the drawing given with the protologue, even including a zig-zag pattern in the apical nodes. LINN-HS 148.3 includes little information. It comes from near “Cayenne” (the current capital of French Guiana) and was collected in 1775. It is important to note that Aublet (1775) indicated the provenance of his T. americana as “Habitat in insulis fluvii Sinemariensis, & in loci submersis amnis Galibiensis”. Due to the matching date of LINN-HS 148.3, this specimen represents the obligated choice over Aublet’s illustration (see Art. 9.12, Ex. 12 of ICBN) as the lectotype of Triplaris americana by Aublet (1775).