Veronica maddeni Edgew. ex Hook.f.

Albach, Dirk C., 2025, From just a few to the most type-rich herbarium for Veronica L. (Plantaginaceae) - The effect of digitization of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle herbarium in Paris, Adansonia (3) 47 (7), pp. 47-130 : 92

Veronica maddeni Edgew. ex Hook.f.

The Flora of British India 4: 296 ( Hooker 1885), nom. inval. (Art. 36.1c; publ. in synonymy).

TYPE CITATION. — none designated.

LECTOTYPE (designated here). — K[ K005096065 !].

Nomenclatural note. Strachey was acquainted with other botanists in India, e.g., Edward Madden ( Terrot 1856) and likely Michael Edgeworth. Being born in Ireland, Edgeworth studied botany and oriental languages in Edinburgh and was later appointed to the East India Company for civil service ( Jacob 2000). From 1831 to 1850 Edgeworth travelled India, collected plants, and studied Indian languages, culture, and antiquities ( Anonymous 1883). His herbarium is mainly in Kew with further material at G-DC and OXF ( Stafleu & Mennega 2000) with that of Madden in K, OXF, CAL and E ( Stafleu & Cowan 1981).

The name V. maddeni Edgew. was mentioned by Hooker (1885) in synonymy of V. javanica Blume with the note “mss” indicating that Edgeworth sent him a manuscript in which this species was described. The name was subsequently cited from Hooker (e.g., Dutta 1960). The name does not appear in any publication of Edgeworth and since Edgeworth (1846) noted that he sent his Scrophulariaceae to Bentham, I also checked relevant literature of Bentham with no success. However, there is a specimen in K-Benth sent by Edgeworth labeled “46 Veronica sp. n., Himalaya 3 to 8.000 ft banks, M. Edgeworth 1840”. The specimen can be identified as V. javanica but is comparably small-leaved, basally strongly branched and appears decumbent with long stems. The name appears also on specimens collected by Griffiths (no. 3921) distributed at Kew in 1862-3 (K000662121, K005096048, P03529521, GOET), by J. D. Hooker and J. Thomson (K005096056, K005096058, K005096066, K005096067, KW,P03529522) and Strachey and Winterbottom in 1843 in Kumaon, Naini Tal, 1500 feet (K005096059, P03529520). Thus, it seems that Edgeworth communicated his name to relevant botanists in India and Kew without ever validly publishing the name.