212 



THK JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



DON AX AND SCHUMANNIANTHUS. 



By K. A. Rolfe, A.L.S. 



When publishing his Monograph of the Marantacece in 1902 

 (Das Pflanzenreich, iv. 48), Schumann had not seen a Philippine ex- 

 ample of his therein-established genus Actoplanes: — " Findet sich 

 nicht auf den Philippinen (sehr viele Sammler )," (p. 34). One of the 

 species, however, does occur in the Philippines, and as its history 

 has been somewhat confused it seems desirable to place upon 

 record the facts discovered in comparing some material from that 

 country. 



Blanco, in 1837, enumerated Maranta arundinacea L. as a 

 native of the Philippines, though he had some doubt about its 

 identity, and remarked : •! Sera mas bien la especie Tonxat ? " 



Naves, in 1880, enumerated four Philippine species of Maranta, 

 M* dichotoma Wall., M. grandis Miq., M. arundinacea L., and 

 il/. ranwsissima Wall. The first and last are synonymous, and 

 represent Donax Arundastrum K. Schum. (but not the original of 

 Loureiro), a species which I have not seen from the Philippines ; 

 the third appears to have been correctly determined, but is not 

 indigenous in the Philippines ; while the second, which Naves 

 suggested was rather a variety of the first, represents the plant 

 enumerated by Blanco, though it is different from Miquel's plant 

 of the same name. It is well figured by Naves under the name 

 ki Maranta dichotoma L. -Blanco = ? Phrynium dichotomum Roxb." 

 It has since been enumerated as Clinogyne grandis Benth. et Hook, f., 

 which arose from Bentham's identification of the Philippine with 

 the Sumatran plant, which proves to be erroneous. 



Schumann, who pointed out that there were two species of 

 Actoplanes, an eastern and a western, had apparently not seen a 

 Sumatran example, and referred Maranta grandis Miq. to the 

 eastern A. canniformis K. Schum., but authentic specimens at 

 Kew show that it belongs to the western plant, which he called 



A. Ridley i. 



This discovery necessitates a rearrangement of the synonymy, 

 but there is a further complication in the generic name. The 

 identity of Donax Arundastrum Lour, has long been the subject of 

 speculation. Gagnepain has pointed out that Schumann's identi- 

 fication of Phrynium dichotomum Roxb. with Loureiro's plant was 

 probably erroneous, as the latter's description of the fruit agrees 

 with Actoplanes, and his inclusion of Arundastrum vel Tonchat Seytan 

 Rumph. as a synonym of Donax is cited as confirmatory evidence. 

 Gagnepain further redescribes Donax Arundastrum K. Schum. (non 

 Lour.) under the name of Schumannianthus dichotomus Gagnep. A 

 comparison of Loureiro's type at the British Museum (which 

 Gagnepain had not seen) confirms the view that Donax Lour, and 

 Actoplanes K. Schum. are identical. 



It is fortunate that the last element of doubt about the genus 

 can be removed ; all that now remains is to restate the synonymy 

 of the species, for Gagnepain refers all to Donax Arundastrum Lour., 



