Nomenclature Notes on the Name <scp> <i>Desmodium intortum</i> </scp> (Mill.) Urb. (Fabaceae, Papilionoideae) and Its Synonyms

Abstract

ABSTRACT During our recent study of Desmodium Desv. species occurring in Nigeria, we treated the specimens housed at the Natural History Museum, London (BM), and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (E) as syntypes of Desmodium intortum (Mill.) Urb. Subsequent re‐examination of the original literature and associated herbarium material indicated that this interpretation was incorrect and that the typification of the name has been inconsistently applied in the literature. Although Philip Miller, in 1768, when describing the basionym Hedysarum intortum , did not explicitly cite a type specimen, he included a short field diagnosis in his description, which he attributed to Houstoun. The same description is also printed on a specimen housed at the British Natural History Museum, London, in Houston's handwriting. Many scholars and modern databases have misunderstood that the type originated from material cultivated in England from Houstoun's seed. However, in their 1920 publication, Fawcett and Rendle effectively designated the specimen at BM as the type when transferring the species to Desmodium under a later homonymous combination. This paper clarifies the typification history of Desmodium intortum and rectifies our earlier interpretation of the BM and E material as syntypes. Furthermore, we discussed the types of all synonyms and designated a lectotype for Meibomia balaensis Schindl.