Astelia montana Seem.

Birch, Joanne L., 2015, A revision of infrageneric classification in Astelia Banks & Sol. ex R. Br. (Asteliaceae), PhytoKeys 52, pp. 105-132 : 113

Astelia montana Seem.

Astelia montana Seem., Fl. Vit. [Seemann] 313, figs 1-6, pl. 95, 1865, non Reinecke 1898, nec Rechinger 1908. Type: FIJI ISLANDS. Kadavu, summit of Mbuke Levu mountain. Seemann 641. (Holotype: K [000524876, digital image!], pistillate; Isotypes: K [000524875, digital image!], vegetative; GH [00029835, digital image!], pistillate; BM [000990536, digital image!], pistillate).

Collospermum montanum (Seem.) Skottsb., Kongl. Svenska Vetensk. Acad. Handl. Ser. 3, 14(2): 73. 1934; based on Astelia montana Seem.

Funckia montana Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 711. 1891, nomen rejiciendum.

Remarks.

Seemann stated in the preface of Flora Vitiensis (1965, iv) that "the first set of specimens collected by me were deposited at the Royal Herbarium, Kew and from these the plates accompanying this work have chiefly been taken". The type material of Astelia montana , which was effectively published in Flora Vitiensis, can reasonably be expected to have been accessioned at Kew. Two sheets containing Astelia montana specimens collected by Seemann are accessioned at K. One sheet (K000524875) includes a vegetative plant collected at Mt. Mbuke Levu and a second sheet (K000524876) includes a leaf fragment annotated as collected at "Vuna, June 1860" and a pistillate inflorescence labeled as collected by Seemann (n. 641) in 1860. Sheet K000524876 includes the illustrations of the pistillate flower, staminode, berry and seed that appear in the plate that accompanies the protologue of Astelia montana (Seemann 1965).

The pistillate inflorescence labeled as Seemann’s collection n. 641 on sheet K000524876 represents the holotype. According to Seemann’s (1962, 1965) accounts of his field collections, he successfully ascended Mt. Mbuke Levu only once, on 6 September 1860. The vegetative specimen on sheet K000524875 was also collected by Seemann on "Buke Levu" [sic]. A type specimen can be mounted on multiple sheets "as long as the parts are clearly labeled as being part of that same specimen" ( International Botanical Congress and JH Wiersema 2015); Article 8.3). Although it is likely that sheets K000524875 and K00524876 represent a single specimen that was mounted on separate sheets (Birch pers. comm., Smith 1979), they were not clearly labeled as such. Therefore, K000524875 is considered a duplicate. The leaf fragment on sheet K000524876 annotated as collected in "Vuna June 1860" may represent a fragment of an earlier collection from Vuna on the island of Taveuni ( Smith 1979) where Seemann spent time during June 1860 ( Seemann 1962).