Terminalia (Combretaceae) in northern tropical Africa: Priority and typification of T. schimperiana and T. glaucescens ; typification of other synonyms of T. schimperiana and of T. avicennioides

Since M.E. Griffiths in 1959 published a revision of the African species of Terminalia , it has been accepted that a species referred to as T. glaucescens occurs across the continent from the Atlantic coast of West Africa to Ethiopia, and our study confirms this. However, the nomenclatural history of a name competing for priority, T. schimperiana , has not been sorted out. Terminalia glaucescens is used for plants in West and Central Africa, while T. schimperiana is used for plants in the Sudan, South Sudan and Ethiopia. According to the Code , T. schimperiana was effectively and validly published on printed labels with the Schimper exsiccata Iter Abyssinicum III 1638, which was distributed between March and December, 1844, while T. glaucescens was published in 1849. Terminalia schimperiana therefore has priority and should be used for the species throughout its range. The history of the type collection of T. schimperiana is outlined. Lectotypes are selected for both names and for other synonyms. Terminalia avicennioides is also dealt with, as the two species were initially confused. The type of T. avicennioides is lost; the name is lectotypified with the original illustration, which, even in combination with the original description, does not show sufficient characters to distinguish the species from other Terminalia in the region. An epitype agreeing with the current delimitation of T. avicennioides is therefore also selected.