Gardens’Bulletin Singapore 67(1): 35-37. 2015 35 doi: 10.3850/S2382581215000034 From Ancistrocladus to Tristaniopsis via Tetramerista - the convoluted history of a Wallich collection and its impact on the native flora of Singapore LM. Turner Research Associate, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK Richmond, Surrey, [email protected] ABSTRACT. Ancistrocladus sagittatus Wall, ex Planch. (Ancistrocladaceae) is the name of a plant species solely based on a sterile collection made by Nathaniel Wallich in Singapore in 1822. Since 1875, this name has been treated as a variety or synonym oi Tetramerista glabra Miq. (Tetrameristaceae). However, the original material is actually referable to Tristaniopsis (Myrtaceae), and Ancistrocladus sagittatus is here lectotypified and reported as a synonym & of Tristaniopsis merguensis (Griff) Peter G.Wilson J.T.Waterh. for the first time. The new determination of the Wallich collection means that the record of Tetramerista glabra in the native flora of Singapore requires reassessment. It is concluded that Tetramerista glabra, the genus Tetramerista and the family Tetrameristaceae should all be excluded from inventories of the native flora of Singapore. Keywords. Ancistrocladus, flora, Singapore, synonymy, Tetramerista, Tristaniopsis, typification Introduction Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854) was a Danish surgeon who studied botany in Copenhagen. In 807, he arrived at Serampore in India to work as a medical doctor. 1 By 1814 he had officially joined the British East India Company, still working in the medical service, and in 18 1 5 he was appointed Superintendent ofthe Botanic Garden in Calcutta. Wallich undertook various expeditions to collect specimens. This included a trip from Calcutta to Penang and Singapore in 1822. Ofthe many collections made by Wallich and his assistants on this trip, one from Singapore, ofapparently only sterile material, was Ancistrocladus sagittatus by Wallich. The name was included as number 1055 in Wallich’s monumental listing of the East India Company Herbarium known as the Numerical List (Wallich, 1828-1849) or Wallich’s Catalogue. As with the vast majority ofplant names in the Numerical List, Ancistrocladus sagittatus was a nomen nudum in the absence of a description or reference to a published one. An exception to this rule was actually provided by the generic name Ancistrocladus. This was validly published in the Numerical List as a replacement name for Wormia Vahl, a later homonym of Wormia Rottb. (Dilleniaceae). The top set ofthe East India Company collections was maintained as a closed collection, often refeiTed to as the Wallich Herbarium, firstly at the Limiean Society of London and later, from 1913, at 36 Gard. Bull. Singapore 67(1) 2015 the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (K-W). Other material was distributed by Wallich under the list numbers to many different individuals, including William Hooker, and institutions, though it should not be assumed that all specimens with the same number represent true duplicates. Ancistrocladus sagittatus was first validated by the French botanist Jules Emile Planchon in a paper on Ancistrocladus (Planchon, 1849). Planchon based the species solely on Wallich’s collection, but didnot state which specimens he had seen. Planchon worked as assistant to William Hooker at Kew in the period 1 844-1 848 and, for several other Ancistrocladus species in his revision, he mdicated that he had seen specimens in Hooker’s personal herbarium. I therefore designate a specimen distributed under the East India Company number 1055, now in the general herbarium of the Royal Kew Botanic Gardens and formerly in Hooker’s personal herbarium, as the lectotype ofAncistrocladus sagittatus Wall, ex Planch. Alfred William Bennett seems to have beenthe first to realise thsitAncistrocladus sagittatus did not belong in Ancistrocladus. In the account of the Ochnaceae for the Flora ofBritish India, Bennett (1875) treated Ancistrocladus sagittatus as a variety of Tetramerista glabra Miq. (Tetrameristaceae, fonnerly placed in the Oclmaceae or A my Theaceae). casual encounter with this piqued interest because, if this reduction were taxonomically correct, then Ancistrocladus sagittatus, the older of the two names, should provide the correct epithet at the rank of species. The treatment of Ancistrocladus sagittatus as a synonym of Tetramerista glabra has been repeated in subsequent revisions of Ancistrocladus (Steenis, 1948; Gereau, 1997; Taylor et al., 2005) and Tetramerista (Lim, 2010). The online catalogue of the Kew Herbarium made it easy to discover that the recent detenninations of the Wallich specimen in the general herbarium were under the myrtaceous genus Tristaniopsis (formerly Tristania) rather than Tetramerista. The two genera bear superficially similar foliage. However, Tetramerista lacks a clear intramarginal nerve (Keng, 1989), which is evident in the Wallich specimens at Kew, leading me to agree with the placement in Tristaniopsis. Following the treatment of Tristaniopsis by Ashton (2005, 2011), I therefore comi&QXAncistrocladus sagittatus to be a new synonym of Tristaniopsis merguensis Griff. & Tristaniopsis merguensis (Griff.) Peter G.Wilson J.T.Waterh., Austral. J. Bot. 30: 439 (1982). - Tristania merguensis Griff, Account Bot. Coll. Cantor 18 (1844-1845). K TYPE: Burma, Mergui, W. Griffith 235 (isotypes [barcode nos. K000793713, K000793713]). Ancistrocladus sagittatus Wall. [Numer. List no. 1055 (1829), nom. nud.] ex Planch., - Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. ser. 3, 13: 319 (1849), synon. nov. Tetramerista glabra Miq. var. sagittata (Wall, ex Planch.)A.W.Benn. in Hook.f FI. Brit. India 1: 526 (1875). TYPE: , K Singapore, 1822, N. Wallich s.n. [EIC 1055] (lectotype [barcode no. K000793725], K-W designated here; isolectotypes [barcode nos. KOOl 110861, K001110862]). Tristanopsis merguensis in Singapore 37 As well as dealingwith the correctplacementofthenamQAncistrocladussagittatus, this finding also brings into question the occun'ence of Tetramerista glabra in Singapore. The species has been listed in the Singapore flora (Ridley, 1900; Keng, 1990) based solely on the Wallich record which we now know to be an error of identification. The work of Comer (1978) on the swamp forests of Johore and Singapore supports the absence of Tetramerista glabra from Singapore. He found the species in the tme peat swamp relict at Pontian in Johore, but not in the freshwater swamps in the Sedili forests of Johore or Singapore. 1 therefore consider that there is no record of Tetramerista glabra from Singapore and the species, genus and family all have to be removed from listings ofthe native flora until evidence to the contrary is forthcoming. References New & Ashton, P.S. (2005). Tristaniopsis Peter G.Wilson J.T.Waterh. (Myrtaceae) from Borneo. Gard. Bull. Singapore 57: 269-278. & Ashton, PS. (2011). Myrtaceae. In: Soepadmo, E., Saw, L.G., Chung, R.C.K. Kiew, R. (eds) Tree Flora ofSabah and Sarawak 7: 87-330. Kepong: Forest Research Institute Malaysia. Bennett, A.W. (1875). Ochnaceae. In: Hooker, J.D. (ed) Flora ofBritish India 1: 523-527. & London: L. Reeve Co. Comer, E.J.H. (1978). The freshwater swamp-forest of South Johore and Singapore. Gard. Bull. Singapore, Suppl. I: 1-266. Gereau, R.E. (1997). Typification of names in Ancistrocladus Wallich (Ancistrocladaceae). Novon 242-245. 7: Keng, H. (1989). Tetrameristaceae. In: Ng, F.S.P. (ed) Tree Flora ofMalaya 4: 470^71. Petaling Jaya: Longman Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. Keng, H. (1990). The Concise Flora ofSingapore: Gymnosperms andDicotyledons. Singapore: Singapore University Press. & Lim, C.L. (2010). Tetrameristaceae. In: Kiew, R., Chung, R.C.K., Saw, L.G., Soepadmo, E. Boyce, PC. (eds) Flora ofPeninsularMalaysia, Series II Seed Plants (Malayan Forest Records 49) 265-269. Kepong: Forest Research Institute Malaysia. 1 : Planchon, J.-E. (1849). Essai monographique d’une nouvelle famille de plantes propose sous le nom d’Ancistrocladees. Ann. Sci, Nat., Bot. sen 3, 13: 316-320. Ridley, H.N. (1900). The flora of Singapore. J. Straits Branch Roy. Asiat. Soc. 33: 27-196. Steenis, C.G.G.J. van (1948). Ancistrocladaceae. 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