DIVISION II. RULES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CHAPTER V. REJECTION OF NAMES
Article 52
52.1. A name, unless conserved (Art.
14) or sanctioned (Art. 15), is illegitimate and is to be rejected if it was nomenclaturally superfluous when published, i.e. if the taxon to which it was applied, as circumscribed by its author, definitely included the type (as qualified in
Art. 52.2) of a name which ought to have been adopted, or of which the epithet ought to have been adopted, under the rules (but see
Art. 52.3).
52.2. For the purpose of Art. 52.1, definite inclusion of the type of a name is effected by citation
(a) of the holotype under Art. 9.1 or the original type under
Art. 10 or all syntypes under Art. 9.4 or all elements eligible as types under
Art. 10.2; or
(b) of the previously designated type under Art. 9.9-11 or
10.2; or (c) of the previously conserved type under
Art. 14.9; or
(d) of the illustrations of these. It is also effected (e) by citation of the name itself or any name homotypic at that time, unless the type is at the same time excluded either explicitly or by implication.
Ex. 1. The generic name
Cainito Adans. (1763) is illegitimate because it was a superfluous name for
Chrysophyllum L. (1753), which Adanson cited as a synonym.
Ex. 2. Chrysophyllum sericeum Salisb. (1796) is illegitimate, being a superfluous name for
C. cainito L. (1753), which Salisbury cited as a synonym.
Ex. 3. On the other hand,
Salix myrsinifolia Salisb. (1796) is legitimate, being explicitly based upon
S. myrsinites of Hoffmann (Hist. Salic. Ill.: 71. 1787), a misapplication of the name
S. myrsinites L. (1753), which Salisbury excluded by implication as he did not cite Linnaeus as he did under each of the other 14 species of
Salix in his 1796 publication.
Ex. 4. Picea excelsa Link (1841) is illegitimate because it is based on
Pinus excelsa Lam. (1778), a superfluous name for
Pinus abies L. (1753). Under
Picea the correct name is
Picea abies (L.) H. Karst. (1881).
Ex. 5. On the other hand,
Cucubalus
latifolius Mill. and
C. angustifolius Mill. are not illegitimate names, although Miller's species are now united with the species previously named
C. behen L. (1753):
C. latifolius and
C.
angustifolius as circumscribed by Miller (1768) did not include the type of
C. behen L., which name he adopted for another species.
Ex. 6. Explicit exclusion of type: When publishing the name
Galium tricornutum, Dandy (in Watsonia 4: 47. 1957) cited
G. tricorne Stokes (1787) pro parte as a synonym, but explicitly excluded the type of the latter name.
Ex. 7. Exclusion of type by implication:
Tmesipteris elongata P. A. Dang. (in Botaniste 2: 213. 1891) was published as a new species but
Psilotum truncatum R. Br. was cited as a synonym. However, on the following page,
T. truncata (R. Br.) Desv. is recognized as a different species and two pages later both are distinguished in a key, thus showing that the meaning of the cited synonym was either
"
P. truncatum R. Br. pro parte" or "
P. truncatum auct. non R. Br."
Ex. 8. Exclusion of type by implication:
Solanum torvum Sw. (Prodr.: 47. 1788) was published with a new diagnosis but
S. indicum L. (1753) was cited as a synonym. In accordance with the practice in his
Prodromus, Swartz indicated where the species was to be inserted in the latest edition [ed. 14, by Murray] of Linnaeus's
Systema vegetabilium.
Solanum torvum was to be inserted between species 26
(S. insanum) and 27
(S. ferox), the number of
Solanum indicum being 32.
Solanum torvum is thus a legitimate name.
Ex. 9. Under
Persicaria maculosa Gray (1821), the name
Polygonum persicaria L. (1753) was cited as the
replaced synonym, and hence the type of
Polygonum persicaria was definitely included. However,
Persicaria mitis
Delarbre (1806), as the earlier legitimate replacement name for
Polygonum persicaria, is necessarily homotypic; hence,
Persicaria maculosa when published was an illegitimate superfluous name for
Persicaria mitis and its continued
use has been made possible only by conservation.
Ex. 10. Under
Bauhinia semla Wunderlin (1976), the name
B. retusa Roxb.
(1832), non Poir. (1811), was cited as the replaced synonym while
B. emarginata Roxb. ex G. Don (1832), non Mill.
(1768) nec Jack (1822), was also cited in synonymy, and hence the types of the two synonyms were definitely included.
However,
B. roxburghiana Voigt (1845), which was published as a replacement name for
B. emarginata,
is necessarily homotypic with it and should have been adopted by Wunderlin. Therefore,
B. semla is an illegitimate
superfluous name typified by the type of its replaced synonym,
B. retusa (see
Art. 7 Ex. 4).
Ex. 11. Erythroxylum suave O. E. Schulz (1907) is illegitimate because Schulz cited “
Erythroxylum brevipes DC. var.
spinescens (A. Rich.) Griseb.”
(1866) in synonymy. This citation constitutes inclusion of the type of
E. spinescens A. Rich. (1841).
Note 1.
The inclusion, with an expression of doubt, of an element in a new taxon, e.g. the citation of a name with a question mark, does not make the name of the new taxon nomenclaturally superfluous.
Ex. 12. The protologue of
Blandfordia grandiflora R. Br. (1810) includes, in synonymy,
"Aletris punicea
Labill. nov. holl. 1. p. 85. t. 111 ?
", indicating that the new species might be the same as
Aletris punicea. Labill. (1805).
Blandfordia grandiflora is nevertheless a legitimate name.
Note 2. The inclusion, in a new taxon, of an element that was subsequently designated as the type of a name which, so typified, ought to have been adopted, or of which the epithet ought to have been adopted, does not in itself make the name of the new taxon illegitimate.
Ex. 13. Leccinum Gray (1821) does not include all potential types (in fact, none) of
Boletus L. (1753) and thus is not illegitimate, even though it included, as
L. edule (Bull. : Fr.) Gray, the subsequently conserved type of
Boletus, B. edulis Bull. : Fr.
52.3. A name that was nomenclaturally superfluous when published is not illegitimate on account of its superfluity if it is based on a name-bringing or epithet-bringing synonym (basionym), or if it is based on the stem of a legitimate generic name. When published it is incorrect, but it may become correct later.
Ex. 14. Chloris radiata (L.) Sw. (1788) was nomenclaturally superfluous when published, since Swartz cited
Andropogon fasciculatus L. (1753) as a synonym. However, it is not illegitimate since it was based on the legitimate
Agrostis radiata L. (1759).
Chloris radiata is the correct name in the genus
Chloris for
Agrostis radiata when
Andropogon fasciculatus is treated as a different species, as was done by Hackel (in Candolle & Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 6: 177. 1889).
Ex. 15. The generic name
Hordelymus (Jess.) Harz (1885) was nomenclaturally superfluous when published because its type,
Elymus europaeus L., is also the type of
Cuviera Koeler (1802). However, it is not illegitimate since it was based on the legitimate Hordeum [unranked] Hordelymus Jess. (Deutschl. Gräser: 202. 1863).
Cuviera Koeler has since been rejected in favour of its later homonym
Cuviera DC., and
Hordelymus can now be used as the correct name for a segregate genus containing
Elymus europaeus L.
Ex. 16.
Carpinaceae Vest (Anleit. Stud. Bot.: 265, 280. 1818) was nomenclaturally superfluous
when published because of the inclusion of
Salix L., the type of
Salicaceae Mirb. (1815). However, it is not
illegitimate because it is based on the stem of a legitimate generic name,
Carpinus L.
Note 3. In no case does a statement of parentage accompanying the publication of a name for a hybrid make the name illegitimate (see
Art. H.5).
Ex. 17. The name
Polypodium ×
shivasiae
Rothm. (1962) was proposed for hybrids between
P. australe Fée and
P. vulgare subsp.
prionodes (Asch.) Rothm., while at the same time the author accepted
P.
×
font-queri
Rothm. (1936) for hybrids between
P. australe and
P. vulgare L. subsp.
vulgare. Under
Art.
H.4.1,
P. ×
shivasiae is a synonym of
P. ×
font-queri; nevertheless, it is not an illegitimate name.
(c)
2006, by International Association for Plant Taxonomy. This page last updated
16.03.2007
.
