Galium verum var. hallasanense M. Kim (2017: 312)

Isotype: KOREA, Jeju-do: Mt. Hallasan, 24 July 2015, H. Jo JF72414 (NIBRVP814958; Fig. 1 -21) .

Note: This isotype was transferred to KB from JNU, and another isotype was deposited in NNH (!). The holotype was preserved in KH (!). The name Galium verum var. hallaensis K.S. Jeong & K. Choi was published by Jeong et al. (2017: 95) as a replacement name for G. pusillum Nakai, which is a later homonym of G. pusillum L. (1753: 106). Kim (2017) published the name G. verum var. hallasanense, citing G. pusillum Nakai as a synonym. However, G. verum var. hallasanense is not a replacement name for G. pusillum Nakai, because Kim (2017) published the name as the name of a new taxon with an English description and indicated that the type differs from that of G. pusillum Nakai (see Art. 6.13 of the Code). Meanwhile, Son & Chang (2019) argued that the name G. verum var. hallasanense is a later homonym of G. verum var. hallaensis, because “both the epithet ‘hallaensis’ and ‘hallasanense’ are sufficiently alike to be considered homonymous, and are derived from Mt. Halla of Jeju Island, Republic of Korea ”. However, the epithet ‘hallasanense’, which has an additional syllable ‘-san-’, is not spelled exactly like ‘hallaensis’. These epithets are not likely to be confused, and should not be treated as homonyms.