Osmanthus suavis King ex Clarke (1882: 607)

Diep, Tran Thi Ngoc, Doan, Ha Thi Thanh, Quang, Bui Hong, Averyanov, Leonid V., Lyskov, Dmitry F., Samigullin, Tahir H., Sennikov, Alexander N. & Nuraliev, Maxim S., 2025, An overview of the genus Osmanthus (Oleaceae) in Vietnam, with two new records and lectotypifications, Phytotaxa 684 (1), pp. 33-54 : 43-46

3. Osmanthus suavis King ex Clarke (1882: 607) ( Figs. 7 , 8 )

References: — Green (1958: 530, 2003: 266), Pai (1986: 626), Lu (1992: 109, Pl. 30 Fig. 1 , 2 ), Chang et al. (1996: 290, Fig. 243 (1, 2)), Xiang & Ji (2004: 54), Bui (2016: 402, Fig. 2 ).

LECTOTYPE (K, first-step lectotype designated by Green (1958: 531); second-step lectotype designated by Green (2003: 266)):— BHUTAN. Descent on the way from Chindupjee to Rydang, 8400–8500 ft (ca. 2600 m), 26 March 1838, W. Griffith 785 (Herb. East India Company 2324; Herb. late East India Company 3691) (K: K000978702!; isolectotypes: GH: 00112533!; K: K000978705!).

Nomenclatural notes: —In the original description of Osmanthus suavis, Clarke (1882) cited two gatherings, one made by Hooker and King from “ Sikkim and East Nipal” and the other by Griffith from “Bhotan”. These collections should be treated as syntypes following Art. 9.6 of the Shenzhen Code ( Turland et al. 2018). Clarke has not indicated collector’s numbers of these gatherings; he also provided no further details for the Griffith’s collection. At the same time, he cited an entry of “ Olea sp. ” listed by Griffith (1848: 156) under the number 785 as belonging to this species.

Green (1958) indicated the type of O. suavis as follows: " Bhutan. Descent to Rydang, 2600 m., 1838, W. Griffith s.n. (holo. K)", which appears to fulfill the conditions of lectotypification because a single gathering was indicated (Art. 7.11 of ICN, Turland et al. 2018). This citation of the locality data was not present on the specimen labels but apparently derived from the published diaries of Griffith (1848, under the number 785 and the name “ Olea ”): “Descent to Rydang. Alt. 8500 ft. ”. In addition, from the travelogue ( Griffith 1847: 276), it is evident that Griffith collected his “ Olea ” on 26 March 1838 on his way from “Chindupjee” to “Rydang", on descent from the 10000 feet summit, at the elevation of 8400 ft (whish is likely to be close to the point 27.41°N, 89.63°E according to the map in the same work). Therefore, Green (1958) actually cited the gathering Griffith 785 (which was initially included in the species protologue). It is most likely that Green has not cited the collector’s number for the reason of its absence on the herbarium sheet studied by him (see below).

Among the K collections, we have found two Griffith’s specimens of O. suavis . One of them (K000978702) contains the collection data as "Bootan, Griffith, E.I.C." and a number of the first specimen distribution from the East India Company as 2324; it lacks a direct evidence of being a part of the gathering 785, but likely belongs to it according to the available information (the history and nomenclatural relevance of specimen distributions by the East India Company is explained elsewhere: Sokoloff et al. 2023). The second specimen at K (K000978705) is originally labelled by Griffith as " Olea 785 " with a curatorial inscription reading "of Bhotan" and also bears a label with a number of the second distribution from the late East India Company as 3691 and years of distribution 1862–1863. An identical distribution label is present on a specimen at GH (00112533), which is therefore also a duplicate of Griffith 785. As soon as there are two duplicates at K, Green’s choice (1958) was the first-step for lectotypification (Art. 9.17).

After 45 years, Green (2003) revised the typification of O. suavis in the following way: " lectotype Griffith 2324 K, here selected". By indicating the specimen distribution number, he has explicitly referred to the duplicate K000978702 of Griffith 785, and designated the lectotype in the second step.

Additional specimens examined:— VIETNAM. Lao Cai Province: Van Ban District, Khanh Yen Ha municipality, to the SW of Na Nheo village (in the vicinity of point 21°57'15''N, 104°12'39''E), primary broad-leaved evergreen montane forest along tops of granite/quartzite ridge at elev. 2650 m a.s.l., flowers white, strong very pleasant fragrant, 20 March 2002, L. Averyanov, P. K. Loc, D. T. Doan HAL 2575 ( HN: HN000076375 ; LE: LE01058581 ) ; Thanh Hoa Province: Quan Hoa District, Phu Son Municipality, Khoa village , Pu Hu Nature Reserve , around point 20°23'11.5''N, 104°56'04.6''E, elev. 253 m, 16 June 2016, B. H. Quang, V. T. Chinh, D. H. Son, T. D. Binh No. QUANG 86 ( HN: HN000076376 ) .

Distribution:— India, Nepal, Bhutan, China (Tibet, Yunnan), Myanmar, Vietnam (Lao Cai, Thanh Hoa).

Ecology and habitat:— In Vietnam, O. suavis grows in broad-leaved evergreen forests at elevations of 250–2650 m a.s.l. Flowering in March–June.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Phylogenetic tree obtained from the Bayesian analysis of the nrITS dataset. Numbers near branches indicate posterior probabilities (PP) / bootstrap percentages in the maximum parsimony analysis (BS); “-” indicates absence of the branch in the maximum parsimony analysis. Scale bar shows number of substitutions per site. The specimens studied in the present paper are shown in boldface; accessions with doubtful identification are shown in gray.

FIGURE 2. Osmanthus fragrans (apparently a male individual). A. Flowering branch (view from below). B. Leafy branch (view from above). C. Apical portion of shoot. D, E. Leaves, adaxial and abaxial side. F, G. Inflorescences, top and side view. Nuraliev 2302. Photos by M.S. Nuraliev.

FIGURE 7. Osmanthus suavis, herbarium specimen Averyanov et al. HAL 2575 (LE01058581).

FIGURE 8. Osmanthus suavis. A. Flowering branch. B. Leaf. C. Inflorescence in leaf axil. D. Longitudinally opened corolla with stamens. E. Calyx (side view). F. Stamen. G. Gynoecium. Drawn from Averyanov et al. HAL 2575 (HN) by Le Kim Chi; reproduced from Bui (2016).