Polypodium laciniatum Burm. f.

Mazumdar, Jaideep, Callmander, Martin W. & Fumeaux, Nicolas, 2019, Typification and nomenclature of the ferns described in N. L. Burman’s Flora Indica, Candollea 74 (1), pp. 93-109 : 100

Polypodium laciniatum Burm. f. , Fl. Ind.: 231. 1768.

Lectotypus (designated by D.H. Nicolson in SMITH, 1978: 346): INDONESIA. Java: s.d., Anon. s.n. ( G-PREL [ G00348760 ]!).

= Epipremnum pinnatum (L.) Engl. , Pflanzenr. 37: 60. 1908. ≡ Pothos pinnatus L. , Sp. Pl. ed. 2: 1374. 1763. (Araceae)

Notes. – In the protologue, BURMAN (1768: 231) referred to two plates ( RHEEDE, 1693: 41, tab. 20, 21) and did not mention any collector, but “ Habitat in Java & Malabara ” as locality and the Javanese vernacular names “ Kakajar ” and “ Tally kaffa ”. The latter should be regarded as specimen citation, since these names are not mentioned in the cited publication. The existence of a Javan gathering is confirmed by Burman’s concluding remark (“ In Javanica foliorum foramina non observantur ”. See MERRILL, 1921: 342).

Asingle gathering in G-PREL [G00348760], consisting of a giant leaf, matches this specimen citation; it bears both Javanese names “ Kakajar ” and “ Tally kassa ”, and the species name from N.L. Burman’s hand.

Nicolson in SMITH (1978: 346) was the first to discuss the typification of Burman’s name: “In Burman’s herbarium (G), there is a leaf specimen, […] to be regarded as the type of Polypodium laciniatum Burm. f.”. This is regarded as a valid implicit lectotypification.

The type specimen represents a leaf of Epipremnum pinnatum (Araceae) , “a common and weedy species of Java ” (Nicolson in SMITH, 1978: 346).