Phytotaxa 170 (3): 219–220 www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/ Copyright © 2014 Magnolia Press ISSN 1179-3155 (print edition) Correspondence PHYTOTAXA ISSN 1179-3163 (online edition) http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.170.3.8 The taxonomic identity of Bauhinia bassacensis var. nicobarica (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) SUBIR BANDYOPADHYAY*,1 1 Botanical Survey of India, Central National Herbarium, Howrah 711103, West Bengal, India. *E-mail: subirbandyopadhyay@yahoo.com Abstract Bauhinia bassacensis var. nicobarica has been treated here as a synonym of Phanera bassacensis. Key Words: Bauhinia bassacensis var. nicobarica, new synonym, Phanera bassacensis Introduction Tiwari et al. (2013) described a new variety Bauhinia bassacensis var. nicobarica Tiwari et al. (2013: 13) from Great Nicobar Island and stated in the protologue that it differs from the typical variety of B. bassacensis Pierre ex Gagnepain (1912: 168) in having exstipulate leaves, lobes of the leaves obtuse at apex, bracts ovate and rusty-tomentose, bracteoles 2, lanceolate, rusty-tomentose, fertile stamens always 2, filaments hairy, anther-lobes brown. The genus Bauhinia always has stipules (Wunderlin et al. 1987). However, the stipules may be deciduous or persistent. In the new variety described by Tiwari et al. (2013) the stipules are likely to be deciduous. Supee Saksuwan Larsen in 1977 determined the two specimens at P (00798474 and 00798475) to be of B. bassacensis var. bassacensis, which have leaves with perfectly obtuse lobes at apex. The bracteoles are 2 in var. bassacensis too. They are similar in shape to those found in var. bassacensis and rusty-tomentose. Tiwari et al. (2013) stated in table 1 that filaments of var. bassacensis are glabrous based on Larsen & Larsen (1996) but those authors in the key to the varieties of B. bassacensis and in the morphological description of var. bassacensis as well, stated the fertile stamens/filaments are pubescent. Tiwari et al. (2013) overlooked the excellent publication of de Wit (1956) where he too stated that fertile stamens of the typical variety are (densely) rusty-pubescent to sparsely woolly-pubescent. The stated difference in the number of stamens does not hold good because in var. bassacensis the number of fertile stamens is 2, rarely 3. Larsen & Larsen (1984) stated that var. bassacensis is a polymorphic taxon and the size of the bracts varies considerably and I have found that like the bracteoles the bracts are also rusty-tomentose. I, however, could not find any reliable record of the colour of the anthers in B. bassacensis but in my opinion even if the colour difference exists, it does not alone, warrant the recognition of any separate taxonomic entity. Hence I am treating here B. bassacensis var. nicobarica as a new synonym of Phanera bassacensis (Pierre ex Gagnepain) de Wit (1956: 472) following recent phylogenetic studies based on DNA sequence data (Lewis & Forest 2005; Sinou et al. 2009) that suggest that Bauhinia subgen. Phanera (Wunderlin et al. 1987) should be recognised as a genus distinct from Bauhinia. Phanera bassacensis (Pierre ex Gagnepain) de Wit (1956: 472). Bauhinia bassacensis Pierre ex Gagnepain (1912: 168). Type:—Harmand 1540 (lectotype P, n.v.). Gagnepain (1912) in the protologue of B. bassacensis cited ‘Laos: Attopeu, mars 1877, n° 1540 [Harmand]. Cochin-chine: Phu-quoc, janvier 1874, n° 1399 [Pierre]’ after the morphological description. de Wit (1956) cited Harmand 1540 at P as the lectotype. Whereas, Larsen & Larsen (1996) cited Harmand 1240 at P as the holotype but it was not cited in the protologue of B. bassacensis. I have seen a Harmand’s collection having the field number 1240 at P (00798474, image!) with Accepted by Vidal Mansano: 5 May 2014; published: 26 May 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 219 the same locality and date of collection as given in the protologue. The other collections of Harmand 1240 at P (00798475 image!) and K (000760864 image!) have been collected from Attopeu in 2/77. B. bassacensis Pierre ex Gagnep. var. nicobarica Tiwari et al. (2013: 13), syn. nov. Type:— INDIA. Andaman & Nicobar Islands: Great Nicobar Island, Campbell Bay, 20.2.2013, 16 m, K. Ravikumar, N. Balachandran & Umeshkumar Tiwari 115533 (holotype FRLH image!; isotypes FRLH image!, PBL). Prior to the publication of Tiwari et al. (2013) this species was known to occur in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Malay Peninsula (Larsen & Larsen 1996). In var. bassacensis all the petals were known to be greenish yellow or two of them with purple blotch at tip whereas in var. backeri de Wit (1956: 473) to be greenish yellow with purple veins and two or all of them with purple blotch at tip. In the present collection of var. nicobarica, Tiwari et al. (2013) stated the petals to be creamish with purple-red veins. From the image of the flower given in the protologue the petals appear to me as light yellow with purple veins. There is no purple blotch at tip in any of the petals. Thus not much difference in the colour of the petals exists between the said varieties. The herbarium specimens of var. bassacensis can easily be separated from var. backeri by the length and pubescence of the filaments and colour of the flower buds (Larsen & Larsen 1996). Larsen & Larsen (1996) recorded the filaments in the former variety to be 1.5–2 cm long and pubescent whereas in the latter variety the filaments were found to be 2.5–3.5 cm long and glabrous or sparsely hairy at base. Further the buds in the former variety are brownish pubescent whereas in the latter variety greyish pubescent. Acknowledgements I thank Dr. Paramjit Singh, Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata and Dr. P. Lakshminarasimhan, Scientist, In-charge, Central National Herbarium, Howrah, for the facilities. I also thank Dr. M. Sanjappa, Ex-Director, BSI, for sending me the protologue of B. bassacensis var. nicobarica, Dr. K. Ravikumar, for sending me the images of the type specimens at FRLH and an anonymous reviewer for the helpful suggestions. Dr. C. Murugan, Scientist, In-charge, Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre, Botanical Survey of India, informed me that the isotype of B. bassacensis var. nicobarica is not available at PBL.The image of the Kew specimen has been kindly provided by Drs. Elizabeth Woodgyer and Ruth Clark and those of the Paris herbarium have been downloaded from Paris herbarium catalogue available online. References Gagnepain, F. (1912) Bauhinia nouveaux d’Extrȇme-Orient. Notulӕ Systematicӕ 2(6): 168–182. Larsen, K. & Larsen, S.S. (1984) Bauhinia. In: Smitinand, T. & Larsen, K. (eds.) Flora of Thailand 4(1). The Forest Herbarium, Royal Forest Department, Bangkok, pp. 4–45. Larsen, K. & Larsen, S.S. (1996) Bauhinia. In: Kalkman, C., Kirkup, D. W., Nooteboom, H. P., Stevens, P. F. & Wilde, W.J.J.O. de (eds.) Flora Malesiana 12(2). Rijksherbarium/Hortus Botanicus, Leiden University, Leiden, pp. 442–535. Lewis, G.P. & Forest, F. (2005) Tribe Cercideae. In: Lewis, G., Schrire, B., Mackinder, B. & Lock, M. (eds.) Legumes of the World. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, pp. 57–67. Sinou, C., Forest, F., Lewis, G. P. & Bruneau, A. (2009) The genus Bauhinia s.l. (Leguminosae): a phylogeny based on the plastid trnLtrnF region. Botany 87: 947–960. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b09-065 Tiwari, U., Ravikumar, K. & Balachandran, N. (2013) A new variety of Bauhinia bassacensis (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae) from Great Nicobar Island, India. Phytotaxa 149(1): 12–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.149.1 Wit, H.C.D. de (1956) A revision of Malaysian Bauhinieae. Reinwardtia 3(4): 381–539. Wunderlin, R., Larsen, K. & Larsen, S.S. (1987) Reorganization of the Cercideae (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae). Biologiske Skrifter, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab 28: 1–40. 220 • Phytotaxa 170 (3) © 2014 Magnolia Press BANDYOPADHYAY