Sonerila grandiflora R.Br. ex Wight & Arn., Prodr. Fl. Ind. Orient.

Sonerila grandiflora R.Br. ex Wight & Arn., Prodr. Fl. Ind. Orient. View in CoL 322. 1834. Lectotype (designated here): INDIA, South India , Nilgiri, s.d., s.coll. Wallich Numer. List 4099 ( K001038128 digital image!). Fig. 2 View Fig

Nomenclatural notes: The name S. grandiflora was first proposed by Brown in 1831 in the Wallich Catalogue (1828–1849) against Numer. List 4099 and quoted “ Sonerila grandiflora Brown, Nelghery dam, Noton” but it was not validly published. Wight and Arnott (1834) subsequently validated the name based on collection of Noton. Noltie (2005) gave the type details as ‘Wall. Cat. 4099. Neelgherries-Noton. No specimens at E’. We traced three relevant specimens at K (K000567347, K001038127, K001038128) that matched the protologue. The barcode K000567347 has three flowering twigs and the annotation of Wallich “ Sonerila grandiflora, Nelghery, Wallich 1831 ,…. 4099”. The other sheet has four specimens numbered A and B, respectively assigning two barcodes K001038127 and K001038128. K001038127 has a flowering twig and an annotation “4099, S. grandiflora Brown, Nelghery dam, Noton” whereas K001038128 has three flowering/ fruiting specimens and an annotation “4099, Noton” and a label “seen near Mukurthy Peak only in a watercourse……. Sonerila grandiflora ”. This label was presumably written by the collector Benjamin Noton, who in the period 1825–1826 collected mainly in the Nilgiri Hills. We chose K001038128, the best representative of the species, as the lectotype.