Maesa rugosa C.B. Clarke (1882: 508) var. rugosa

Dhatchanamoorthy, Narayanasamy & Devanathan, Krishanamoorthy, 2025, Reevaluating the infraspecific taxa of Maesa rugosa C. B. Clarke (Primulaceae): Taxonomic reassessment and typification update, Phytotaxa 683 (1), pp. 53-62 : 55

Maesa rugosa C.B. Clarke (1882: 508) var. rugosa

Type:— INDIA. Sikkim, Ratong river , 5000–7000 feet, J.D. Hooker s.n. K (Lectotype designated here: K000756236 digital image!), Fig.1 ; isolectotype: K (K000756235, K000756234, K000756233 digital images!), P (P00463633 digital image!), NL (L2637139

digital image!), CAL (CAL0000017423 digital image!).

Description:—Shrubs or small tree; branchlets scarcely warted. Leaves 15–19 × 4–4.2 cm, cuneate at base, entire to obscurely denticulate at margins, caudate acuminate at apex; coriaceous; secondary veins 16–17 (–18) pairs; petiole c. 1.5 cm long, canaliculated. Inflorescence a panicle, axillary, 3–4.5 cm long. Flowers white, c. 3 mm across. Pedicels c. 1.5 mm long, puberulous. Calyx 5-lobed, glabrous; lobes broadly ovate, c. 1 × 0.8 mm, orange punctate lineate, entire at margins, obtuse-acute at apex. Corolla campanulate or cup-shaped, 5-loabed, glabrous; tube cylindric, c. 0.5 mm; lobes ovate or broadly ovate, c. 1.5 × 1.2 mm, entire at margins, obtuse to rounded at apex, punctate-lineate. Stamens 5, inserted at middle of corolla tube. Ovary ovid-globose; Style cylindric; stigma 5-lobed. Fruit globose, c. 4 mm across, punctate-lineate.

Flowering & Fruiting:—December to April

Distribution:— India

Other specimens:— INDIA. Sikkim, J. Thomson s.n. NL (L2637140 digital image!).

Lectotypification:—The typical species M. rugosa was first described by C.B. Clarke based on the collection from Sikkim by J.D. Hooker. There are seven sheets collected by him from Sikkim deposited in various herbaria CAL, K, NL, and P (CAL0000017423, L2637140, K000756233, K000756234, K000756235, K000756236, P00463633) ; of which four sheets contain annotation labels with Clarke’s handwriting. The typification of the name M. rugosa is not in concurrence with the ICN code. Hence, the single sheet with the barcode number K000756236 housed at K is in good condition and precisely matches with the protologue and is consequently designated here as a lectotype according to article 9.17 of the ICN code.

Other sheets [K (K000756235, K000756234, K000756233), P (P00463633), NL (L2637139), CAL (CAL0000017423)] are designated here as isolectotypes.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Lectotype of Maesa rugosa C.B. Clarke var. rugosa (J.D. Hooker s.n.K000756236).