Musa splendida, , Chevalier, 1934

Lý, Ng ọc-Sâm, Lowry Ii, Porter P. & Haevermans, Thomas, 2018, Typification and an emended description of Musa splendida (Musaceae), Phytotaxa 351 (4), pp. 281-288 : 283-285

Typification of Musa splendida

In the protologue of Musa splendida, Chevalier (1934) cites “ Vietnam, Haut-Tonkin: Muong-Xen, à 700 m elev., sur la route de Laokay à Chapa, en fleurs et fruits, 4 Déc. 1913; une des plantes les plus caractéristiques de la brousse de cette région”, but no type was designated and he provided no illustrations of the taxon. According to Stafleu & Cowan (1976), “the material used by Chevalier to describe his new species may be housed in P and PC (currently known as P) at the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle ( MNHN) in Paris”, but Häkkinen and Väre (2008) indicated that the original material could not be found there. During a recent visit to the Paris herbarium in June 2008, Markku Häkkinen examined material of M. splendida , including some collections made at sites close to the type locality by the French botanist E. Poilane. One of these specimens, Poilane 24969 (P00742069!), was annotated by Häkkinen on 23 June 2008 as a “ neotype ”, although this designation does not appear to have been published.

During the recent renovation of the whole Paris herbarium collection, we located a sheet of an unidentified specimen of Musaceae (P01767056!) whose label data matches Chevalier’s original description of Musa splendida . This specimen consists of a single inflorescence and a handwritten label in the lower left on which appears: “bananier sauvage, Tokin: Muong-Xen (province de Lao-Key) 4 Déc. 1913, coll. Aug. Chevalier”. The inflorescence is spindly and distally obliquely curved, it bears a male bud with imbricate bracts and male flowers arranged in a single row, along with three young fruit hands with young triangular-lanceolate and pendulous fruits, and it has a specimen packet containing stamens and flowers with 5-lobed, compound tepals with two larger lateral lobes and 3-smaller inner lobes, all of which matching very well with the original description ( Figure 1 ). There remains little doubt that this specimen was used by Chevalier to describe M. splendida and thus constitutes the lectotype ((McNeill et al. 2012: Arts. 9.2, 9.11, 9.13). According to the article 9.19 of the ICN (McNeill et al. 2012), its discovery thus precludes the need to designate a neotype.

Finally, based on a careful review of the other specimens of Musa splendida at P, we have chosen to designate one of them as an epitype for this name, viz. Poilane 24969 (mounted on 2 sheets: P00742068!, P00742069!), which was collected close to the type locality. This collection is the most appropriate choice because it has a lanceolate leaf, lanceolate and imbricate bracts, flowers arranged in a single row, and mature fruits with seeds, all of which match the original description of M. splendida (McNeill et al. 2012: Arts. 9.8, 9.20). Moreover, in the original description, M. splendida is indicated as having leaves with a lanceolate lamina, a short upright inflorescence that is then arched, with a finely pubescent rachis, male buds with strongly imbricate bracts, a fruiting peduncle that is pubescent and pendant at first, then curving upwards, and mature fruits, although no description is provided of the seeds. However, the available material of M. splendida at P and our recent field observations have shown that the lamina of the leaf is oblong-elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, the male inflorescence and fruiting peduncle remain erect and have a glabrous rachis, the bracts are imbricate to convolute, the fruit is always pendant, and the seeds are bell- or mushroom-shaped ( Figure 2–3 ). Based on this additional information, an emended description of M. splendida with a colour plate ( Figure 3 ) is provided below.

Figures

FIGURE 1. The holotype of Musa splendia:A. Chevalier, s.n. (P01767056).A high-resolution image is available online at: https://science. mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/p/item/p01767056

FIGURE 2. The epitype designated for Musa splendida: Poilane 24969, Phu Lu pro: de Laokay, 6 December 1935 (mounted on 2 sheets: P00742068! (Fig.2A), P00742069! (Fig.2B)). A high-resolution images are available at: https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/ collection/p/item/p00742069 and https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/p/item/p00742068

FIGURE 3. Musa splendida. A. Plant in natural habit; B. Leaf base; C. Male bud; D. Female bud; E. Mature infructescence; F. Young infructescence and male inflorescence. G. Female ovary with stamens, style and stigma; H. Female free tepal; I. Female compound tepal; J. Male flower shows compound tepal, stamens with anthers and white pollen, style, and stigma; K. Male free tepal; L. Side view of a detailed male flower. M. Seeds. Photo by Ngọc-Sâm Lý.