Lectotypification of two names in the genus Rubus L. (Rosaceae)

Abstract

Rubus Linnaeus (1753: 492) is one of the largest genera in the family Rosaceae, represented by more than 700 species (Lu & Boufford 2003) and numerous apomictic taxa distributed worldwide but mainly in temperate regions (Mabberly 2008). The greatest species diversity of the genus is found in Southeastern Asia, East Asia and South America (Kalkman 1993, Gupta & Dash 2015a). The genus is recognized as one of the unsolved complexes for species delimitation due to hybridization, polyploidy and the large number of apomictic taxa (Weber 1996). The genus is characterized by woody or rarely herbaceous habit with simple to pinnate or compound leaves, terminal solitary to racemose and cymose inflorescence subtended by a foliar bract, pentamerous (rarely more petals) flowers with numerous stamens and pistils; drupaceous fruits with a distinct torus. A current estimate shows that, in India, about 75 species occur (Gupta & Dash 2015b) with the largest concentration in eastern Himalayan states. Hooker (1878) reported 41 species of Rubus from the then British India out of which 39 species and 15 varieties are found within the present political boundary of India. Long (1987) reported 35 species and 1 variety from Sikkim while dealing with Flora of Bhutan. Very limited information is available on the genus in India except some sketchy enumerations in the state floras (Kanjilal et al. 1922, Sharma & Kachroo 1981, Chowdhery & Wadhwa 1984, Chowdhery et al. 1996). Therefore, taxonomic treatment of less known Indian species of Rubus has not been worked out; as a result these names are only being referred as unresolved names in contemporary databases (e.g. The Plant List 2013).The majority were collected during the colonial era but without any designation of types. Therefore, to maintain the current taxonomic status, detailed studies are needed for all these species. We (first two authors) currently are revising the taxonomy of Rubus in India and this is part of the PhD thesis of the first author. During our research, we traced specimens of Rubus collected from western Himalaya (India) referable to less known and untypified R. chambicus Rolfe (1920: 132) and R. almorensis Dunn (1921: 310).

Phylogenetic relationship among species of Rubus (Rosaceae) from southern Western Ghats of India: Morphological data aligns with the combined dataset of plastic and nuclear markers

“…Southwestern China is being considered as centre of origin of Rubus species in the world because of the rich genetic diversity, large number of subgenera, extensive morphological variation and most endemism on species (Lu 1983;Lu and Boufford 2003). In India, the genus is represented by more than 75 taxa with the largest concentration in eastern Himalayan states (Hooker 1878; Gupta et al 2016).…”

On the identity and occurrence of Rubus racemosus (Rosaceae) in India with note on its neotypification

“…Rubus Linnaeus (1) is one of the largest genera in the family Rosaceae comprises about 1546 species (2) distributed mainly in temperate to subtropical regions of the northern hemisphere (3), especially in south-eastern Asia, east Asia and northern part of south America (4). In India, over 75 species of Rubus has been reported so far (5), out of which nine were reported to occur in southern parts of the country (6,7). As a part of the ongoing taxonomic revision of the genus Rubus in southern Western Ghats, the authors came across an interesting specimen of Rubus, growing in patches of evergreen forests at Kothagiri in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu.…”

Resolving the Name Rubus gardenerianus Kuntze (Rosaceae), Recollected After a Century from India

“…thwaitesii . After scrutiny of this data and available literature (Hooker 1878, Gupta et al . 2016, Gamble 1919, Dassanayake & Fosberg, 1981), we concluded that R. gardenerianus was not collected after 1910, and that the collection made by us is the first find of the species from India after 106 years.…”

“…The species are distributed mainly in temperate to subtropical regions of the northern hemisphere especially in southeastern and eastern Asia, and South America (Lu & Boufford 2003, Kalkman 1993. In India, the genus is represented by more than 75 species with the largest concentration in the eastern Himalayas (Hooker 1878, Gupta et al 2016. To date, ten of those species have been reported from the southern parts of the Western Ghats (Gamble 1919, Sasidharan 2013.…”

“…As part of our revisionary study on Rubus in the Western Ghats, from southern Kanara (Udupi District, Karnataka) and Bangitapal in the Nilgiri Hills (Tamil Nadu), we collected specimens of Rubus we could not identify. After their detailed examination, perusal of relevant literature (Hooker 1878, Gupta et al 2016, Gamble 1919, Dassanayake & Fosberg 1981, examination of protologues, and comparison with voucher specimens deposited at BM, BR, P, K, MH, CAL, CALI, and CMPR (herbarium acronyms according to https://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/), the collected specimens were identified as Rubus gardenerianus, a poorly known species distributed in Sri Lanka and southern India. The name R. gardenerianus is considered 'unresolved' (http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/rjp-16533) due to the lack of specimens after type collection, and missing detailed description other than the protologue.…”