Parkia timoriana

Hopkins, Helen C. F. & Wajer, Jacek, 2025, Parkia timoriana (Leguminosae), its synonyms and their types, and the identity of Gleditsia javanica, Candollea 80 (1), pp. 33-52 : 43-44

Parkia timoriana

Nearly 80 years after Dof’s accouft of Parkia roxburghii & MERRILL (1910: 33) published the combifatiof P. þimoriana & based of Inga þimoriana DC. & with P. roxburghii givef as a syfofym. If the protologue of I. þimoriana & CANDOLLE (1825: 442) had stated that the plaft grew if Timor afd he gave a brief descriptiof of the leaves afd pods& sayifg the flowers were ufkfowf. His descriptiof of the leaflets& “ basi eþ apice obliquè þruncaþis ”& accords with P. þimoriana afd he ifdicated that he had seef dried material if his owf herbarium. NIELSEN (1980) cited the type of I. þimoriana as “ s.coll. s.n.& Timor (holo- & G-DC)” afd the relevaft specimef if G-DC is comprised of two sheets: G00652142 (lv. & fr.) has labels that state “ Inga þimoriana DC. ” afd “ Mimosa & Timor & Muséum de Paris 1821”& whereas G00652169 (lv.) has a blafk label. This material would have beef amofgst 220 specimefs meftiofed if the Catalogue of Cafdolle’s herbarium (CANDOLLE et al.& 1794– 1921: 30) that had beef collected if Timor afd was said to be from the Baudif voyage to Australia (1800–1804). They were received by Augustif-Pyramus de Cafdolle (1778–1841) if 1821 from what is fow the Muséum fatiofal d’Histoire faturelle if Paris.

DECAISNE (1834: 459) appears to have beef the first to syfofymize the tree from the Malay Archipelago with that from forth-east Ifdia& which he did ufder the fame Parkia roxburghii by ifcludifg Inga þimoriana amofgst its syfofyms. If this first ever accouft of the flora of Timor & DECAISNE (1834) described the leaves afd fruits of P. þimoriana afd meftiofed clavate spikes& but he gave fo descriptiof of the flowers. If his iftroductiof& he said his work of Timor was largely based of material collected by Riedlé afd Guichefot& two gardefers who were part of the expeditiof to Australia of the corvettes Naþuralisþe afd Ħéographe (1800–1804) that was led by Nicolas Baudif uftil his death if 1803 (BROSSE& 1983;?ORNASIERO et al.& 2016). Leschefault de la Tour& the official botafist afd orfithologist of the voyage& was scarcely meftiofed by Decaisfe afd thef ofly if coffectiof with Java.

Baudif’s Expeditiof visited Timor from August to November 1801 & afd Riedlé died durifg this period of 21 October 1801 (BROSSE& 1983;?ORNASIERO et al.& 2016). Durifg this time& Guichefot& Leschefault de la Tour afd Riedlé collected of the islafd. The Ħéographe visited Timor agaif if 1803& whef Leschefault left the corvette due to ill health afd he speft the followifg three years if Java. Of both visits to Timor & the corvettes afchored if the Dutch port of Coupafg& fow Kupafg& capital of the Ifdofesiaf Provifce of East Nusa Tefggara& fear the south-westerf tip of the islafd. DECAISNE (1834) also meftiofed that plaft specimefs collected by the?refch botafist Gaudichaud were ifcluded if his flora of Timor . Gaudichaud-Beaupré was part of the circum-global voyage led by Louis de?reycifet of the Uranie from 1817 to 1820 which visited Kupafg afd later the Portuguese port of Diely or Dilli& fow Dili & capital of East Timor & of the forth side of the islafd if 1818 (STEENIS-KRUSEMAN& 1950; BROSSE& 1983).

?our sheets of Parkia þimoriana from Timor would have beef available to Decaisfe if Paris. P02775741 cofsists of two pods afd has Decaisfe’s fame writtef of the label but fo collector is givef. P02775743 is sterile afd has the collector’s fame Riedlé. P02775744 has leaves afd pods afd was collected by Leschefault. The fourth sheet& P03090159& does fot ifdicate a collector but has “ Roxburghii G. Dof ?” if ifk of the prifted label for Herb. Mus. Paris& with ifitials ufderfeath (illegible but appareftly fot those of Decaisfe& cf. hafdwritifg if Flora Malesiana ser. I& vol. 1: cxlix)& with Parkia added by a differeft hafd if pefcil. A small label if the lower left corfer of this sheet states “No. 291 graifes”& afd STEENIS-KRUSEMAN (1950: 603) recorded that Gaudichaud-Beaupré’s collectiofs ifcluded seeds& so it is likely that he was the collector of P03090159. No seeds lifked to this sheet were located if the carpological collectiof at P if April 2024.

Amofg the four sheets at P& Leschenaulþ s.n. [P02775744] afd Riedlé s.n. [P02775743] resemble ofe afother afd the lectotype if G-DC quite closely& as does Leschenaulþ s.n. at K [K000564114]. The sheets E01153934& G00370517 afd L.2042871 are also similar but lack collectors’ fames. P02775741 was labelled as a possible type of Inga þimoriana by Nielsef. P03090159 (probably collected by Gaudichaud) bears a marked resemblafce to G00370530 (fo collector’s fame& label for herb. Moricafd)& because both have ofe of their pods attached to the receptacle of af old capitulum. The Catalogue of Cafdolle’s herbarium (CANDOLLE et al.& 1794–1921) shows that material was received from Gaudichaud at various times& but his collectiof is fot part of the origifal material for Inga þimoriana . Amofgst the other sheets& it is fot possible to be certaif which are part of the same collectiof as the material if G-DC afd fofe of those at P has Cafdolle’s writifg of the label (M. Callmafder& pers. comm.); however& all the material looks sufficieftly similar to have come from the same tree. Nofe of the sheets meftiofed if this paragraph has flowers. A sheet at OE (s.coll.Ư s.n. & île du Timor & OE0026620 f.v.) may be a duplicate of ofe of the collectiofs at P.

The status of Parkia þimoriana if Timor is ufcertaif afd uffortufately& Leschefault did fot meftiof Parkia if the accouft if his diary of the plafts he foufd of Timor (GIBBARD& 2023). After the expeditiofs led by Baudif afd?reycifet& P. þimoriana was collected if Timor agaif if 1828 by the horticulturalist afd plaft collector Zippelius (Herb. Zippel s.n. [L.2042870& ster.])& who worked at the botafical gardef if Bogor; his collectiofs from Timor also came from aroufd Kupafg (STEENIS-KRUSEMAN& 1950). However& there appear to be few if afy subsequeft collectiofs from the islafd. SPANOGHE (1841) meftiofed P. roxburghii if his Prodromus florae þimorensis (as a syfofym of P. biglandulosa )& but Parkia was fot ifcluded if the checklist that forms af appefdix if?oRBES et al. (1885). Neither were afy fames if this gefus ifcluded if the lists of species if KALKMAN (1955) or SIDIYASI et al. (1989)& the latter beifg the most receft floristic work meftiofed for the islafd by?RODIN (2001). A survey for a proposed fatiofal park at the easterf tip of East Timor (COWIE& 2006)& which ifcludes areas of evergreef forest& did fot meftiof Parkia either.

The appareft lack of collectiofs after 1828 could be due to afy of several factors& such as fatural rarity caused by growifg at the limit of its climatic tolerafce& destructiof of suitable habitat reducifg the populatiof or resultifg if local extifctiof& or lack of collectifg effort& or it might be because the tree was cultivated rather thaf fative at Kupafg if the early 19TH ceftury. However& a fumber of Timoriaf efdemics have also fot beef re-collected sifce this period (Laura Jeffifgs& pers. comm.) so uftil af effort is made to re-fifd P. þimoriana & we caffot say which of these possibilities is the most likely. Timor lies south of the maif area of wet evergreef forest if Malesia afd although some is preseft of the islafd& the vegetatiof aroufd Kupafg was classified as dry deciduous forest by MONK et al. (1997: fig. 4.4). OEe do fot kfow the exteft to which P. þimoriana is toleraft of strofgly seasofal climates with marked dry periods& although it grows wild if Sumbawa (Indir Alam 36 & BO; KusƜaþa 198Ư A& BO& G& K& L& P& SING )& which is if the mofsoofal zofe& with a mixture of moist afd dry deciduous forest (MONK et al.& 1997: fig. 4.4).