Phoebe lanceolata (Nees) Nees von Esenbeck (1836: 109)

Chakrabarty, Tapas, Kumar, Anand & Ghoshal, Partha Pratim, 2023, A revision of the genus Phoebe (Lauraceae) in the Indo-Burmese region, Phytotaxa 606 (1), pp. 29-42 : 37-38

5. Phoebe lanceolata (Nees) Nees von Esenbeck (1836: 109) . Fig. 1B

Type:— NEPAL. Without locality, 1821, fl. & fr., Wallich, Numer. List No. 2599C (lectotype designated here: K001116537, digital image!; isolectotypes: CGE [2 sheets] n.v., LE n.v., OXF00146543N n.v., BM013718295, E00393289, E00393290, G-DC [G00693557, G00693559, G00693561], K001116536, MEL2390381, PH00016902, digital images!) . BANGLADESH. Sylhet, s.d., fl. & fr., de Silva in Wallich, Numer. List No. 2599A (additional syntypes: CGE [3 sheets] n.v., LE n.v., BM013718294, E00393286, E00393287, G-DC [G00693501], K001116532, L.1814069, M0147191, MEL2390380, digital images!) . INDIA. Hort. Bot. Calcutt., fl., Wallich, Numer. List No. 2599B (additional syntypes: CGE [3 sheets] n.v., LE n.v., BM000888319, G-DC [G00693558], K001116533, K001116534, K001116535, digital images!) .

Basionym:— Ocotea lanceolata Nees von Esenbeck (1831: 71) .

Homotypic synonym:— Persea lanceolata (Nees) Oliver (1880: 11 , sub t. 1316), nom. illegit., non P. lanceolata Lesquereux (1872: 308) .

Heterotypic synonyms:— Laurus lanceolaria Roxburgh (1832: 309) .

Type:—[ BANGLADESH], fl., W. Roxburgh s.n. (lectotype designated here: BM014605561 , digital image!; isolectotype: MO-225220 , digital image!). BANGLADESH. Korelea & Chittagong, April–May, 1811, fl. & fr., W. Roxburgh 355 (additional original material: BM014605560 [lower specimen], MO-247600 , digital images!) .

Ocotea lanceolaria (Roxb.) Voigt (1845: 309) .

Phoebe lummaoensis Gangopadhyay (2006: 148) , syn. nov.

Type:— MYANMAR. Lummao hills, 7 July 1890, fr., J.C. Prazer 159 (holotype: CAL0000033380 !; isotypes: CAL0000033377 !, CAL0000033378 !, CAL0000033379 !). MYANMAR. Upper Burma, Kalay hills, 5 July 1894, fr., J.C. Prazer 95 (paratypes: CAL0000033376 !, CAL0000033381 !) .

Phoebe palghatensis Gangopadhyay (2009: 146) , syn. nov.

Type:— INDIA. Kerala, Idukki dist., Meenmutty , 14 February 1982, fl., C.N. Mohanan 73233 (holotype: CAL0000021978!; isotypes: MH00091604!, MH00091605!) .

Trees, (2–) 3–20 m high; bud scale scars in dense rings around twigs; branchlets yellowish or greyish sericeous or puberulous when young, soon glabrous. Leaves more or less clustered at the ends of the twigs, narrowly oblong-elliptic, oblong to lanceolate-oblong or lanceolate-elliptic or occasionally narrowly obovate-oblong to obovate-elliptic, 7–25 × 1.5–6.5 cm, cuneate to acute or sometimes cuneate-attenuate or occasionally rounded to obtuse at base, often slightly decurrent at extreme base, acuminate to caudate (acumen or cauda 5–35 mm long, acute) or rarely apiculate at apex, chartaceous to thinly coriaceous, glabrous above, sparsely greyish puberulous on major veins to glabrous beneath, green, brown, dark brown, dark reddish brown or blackish above when dry, paler and green to brown or coppery and often glaucous (not always) beneath; lateral veins slender, 6–12 pairs, prominent and flat above, raised beneath; tertiary veins obscure to prominent above, faint to prominent beneath; veinlets obscure to faint above, inconspicuous to prominent beneath; petioles 5–20 mm long, glabrous. Panicles 4–28 cm long, 2–5-branched (sometimes apparently simple by reduction), 5–many-flowered; axis and branches sparsely puberulous to glabrous. Flowers: pedicels 3–6 mm long, slender, glabrous; tepals ovate to suborbicular or broadly oblong, apiculate, 2.5–4 × 1.8–2.5 mm, glabrous outside, stamens 2–2.5 mm long; staminodes ca. 1 mm long; ovary ovoid or subglobose, 1.2–1.5 mm long in diam.; style 1.3–2 mm long; stigma discoid, lobulate. Fruits ovoid to ellipsoid or oblong-ellipsoid, 0.8–1.5 × 0.5–1 cm, fruiting pedicels 3–7 mm long, not or slightly thickened, fruiting tepals 3–5 mm long.

Local names: — Menda (Bengali, Bangladesh), Jakrikat, Jhankrikath (Nepali).

Phenology: —Flowering in December to June and fruiting in May to November.

Habitat: —Common on ghats, semi-evergreen to evergreen and shola forests in peninsular India between 500– 1500 m elevations; in tropical warm broad-leaved, subtropical and temperate forests on the Himalayas and foothills at 300–2900 m elevations; reported to be common in evergreen and primary forests between 150–2300 m elevations in northeast India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Distribution: — Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Specimens examined:— BANGLADESH. Rangamati dist., Sitapahar west, Jamai chhara, 26 April 1997, fl., A.M. Huq 10491 (L0106967). Without locality, fr., W. Griffith, Kew Distrib. No. 4258 ( CAL) . BHUTAN. Dewangaree hills, April 1853, fl., Simons s.n. (CAL herb. acc. nos. 385047, 385048) . CHINA. Yunnan, Szemao forest , s.d., fl., A. Henry 11734 (L.1814057). INDIA . Assam: Kamrup dist., Baradhoba, five miles south of Singra , 26 June 1964, fl., A.S. Rao 39159 (ASSAM); Five mile north of Ukiam , on road to Bamunigaon, 22 June 1965, fl., A.S. Rao 39050 (ASSAM). Gara reserve - Giang bazaar, 24 May 1957, immat. fr., G. Panigrahi 9505 (ASSAM, CAL) . Kerala: Idukki dist., Kulamavu, 30 December 1983, fl., A.G. Pandurangan 62579 (CAL0000021979, MH00091591, MH00091603); Meenmutty dam area, 25 February, fl., C.N. Mohanan 77977 (CAL0000021982, MH). Palakkad dist. , Singamparai RF, 26 May 1979, fl., E. Vajravelu 62829 (CAL, MH00091610, MH00091611); Karapara river side, 1 March 1975, fl., E. Vajravelu 46130 (MH00091590, MH00091598). Quilon dist. , Pamba dam - Kakki dam, 15 March 1980, fl., K. Vivekananthan 66216 (CAL0000021980, MH) . Meghalaya: Garo hills, Phulbari , fl., April 1950, Thakur Rup Chand 3111 (L.1814062) . Nagaland: Naga hills, Koio , May 1895, fl., Watt 11782 (U.1417549) . Odisha: Mayurbhanj dist. , Simlipal RF, 30 November 1979, immat. fr., A.R.K. Sastry & G.P. Singh 12388 (CAL [4 sheets]) . Sikkim: Without locality, s.d., fl., T. Thomson s.n. (CAL herb. acc. no. 385009, 385010, L.1814066); ibid., fl., J.D. Hooker s.n. (CGE, G-DC [G00693504, G00693552], L.1814068) . Tripura: Munpui , 2 April 1941, fl., K. Biswas 5082 ( CAL) . West Bengal: Darjeeling dist., Chorubuttee , 12 June 1870, fr., C.B. Clarke 12021B ( CAL) ; ibid., 13 June 1870, fr., C.B. Clarke 12087 C ( CAL) . Jalpaiguri dist., Apalehand, Kathanbari , 24 April 1962, fl., S.K. Mukerji 5495 ( CAL) ; Udlajhora , 22 May 1975, fl., J.K. Sikdar 288 ( CAL) . Gorumara , 1 June 1949, fr., V. Narayanaswami 3133 ( CAL) . LAOS. Khammouane province, Nakay dist., Khet Chatchan Resettlement area , 10 March 2006, fl., B. Svengsuksa et al. BT 262 (L.1814048) . MALAYSIA. Pahang, Tahan Woods, Kuala Teku, Rocky banks of S. Teku, 20 February 1968, fl., T.C. Whitmore FRI 4770 (L.1814078) . MYANMAR. Chin hills, Kanpetlet , April 1939, fl., F.G. Dickason 8615 (L.1814060) . NEPAL. Tumbey to Waleug Basi, 28 April 1965, fl., M.L. Banerji et al. 3382 (L.1814064). Dang - Deokhuri dist. , Peepal Dauda , 21 April 1988, fl., P.R. Sakia et al. 9273 (L.1814063) . THAILAND. Pang Mapha , 27 February 1968, fl., B. Hanseen & T. Smitinand 12746 (L.2066792) . VIETNAM. Ninh Binh province, Cuc Phuong National Park , 13 July 1999, fr., N.M. Cuong 264 (L.1814090) .

Notes: —The following field numbers were cited in the protologue of Ocotea lanceolata: Wall. Cat. n. 2599 A–E. It was further specified: “Crescit in Sillet (F.D.) et e Sillet in Hortem Calcutta numillata; in Napalia (Wallich a 1820 et 1821).” They correspond to the Wallich, Numer. List Nos. 2599A, 2599B and 2599C. Of the available specimens which we could examine, Wallich 2599C from Nepal (K001116537) is the best specimen with flowers and fruits and the same is selected here as the lectotype of the name. As regards Laurus lanceolaria , there are four collections of Roxburgh at BM and MO from Bangladesh (BM014605560, BM014605561, MO-247600, MO-255220). The MO specimens bear the label with the annotation “Ex Herbario Musei Britannici” and it indicates that both MO specimens were distributed from BM. The specimen BM014605561 bears two flowering twigs and two ticket size labels with the name “ Laurus ” and “Sundegool” in Roxburgh’s handwriting while there is no annotation by Roxburgh on the other BM specimen BM014605560. It may be noted that Roxburgh stated in the protolouge: “Sundhigool, the vernacular name in Silhet where it is indigenous”. Although, there are two original Flora Indica drawings of Roxburgh available at CAL and K, we have prioritized the specimen over the drawing for lectotype selection. Hence, the specimen BM014605561 has been selected here as the lectotype of the name. Phoebe lummaoensis was differentiated with P. lanceolata but unfortunately the range of variation of the latter was not taken into account while describing the new species which is synonymized here. Likewise, the peninsular Indian population, representing a variant with shorter, few-branched panicles with fewer flowers was described as P. palghatensis . Here also the range of variation of the species was not taken into account.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Field images of Phoebe species. A. P. cathia; B. P. lanceolata.