246 



RUMPHIUS'S HERBARIUM AMBOINENSE 



The Rumphian figure and description are the whole basis of 

 Rubus moluccanus Linn., but this species has been interpreted 

 by many authors as a polymorphous one and given a range from 

 the Himalayan region to Ceylon, southern China, the Philippines, 

 Malaya, and northeastern Australia. Hooker f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 

 2 (1878) 330, states: 



I am quite unable to arrange the forms of this common and protean 

 plant under recognizable varieties answering to its synonymy. 



Focke, in his monograph of the genus Rubus, Bibl. Bot. 17 1 

 (1910) 89, reproduces the Rumphian figure and limits the 

 species to Amboina. He cites no specimens, gives a short de- 

 scription after data given by Rumphius, and was unable to 

 determine the status of the species in a satisfactory manner. 

 He states: 



Die weitere Verbreitung ist vollig unsicher, weil die Art zu ungeniigend 

 bekannt ist. Anscheinend gehoren hieher Exemplare von Voun auf Neu- 

 guinea (leg. Tejsmann) und vielleicht auch von Luzon. 



Rubus moluccanus Linn, has been treated by many authors as 

 a collective species, and it is very evident that numerous forms 

 so named in herbaria cannot be properly placed under this 

 species, but must be considered as distinct ones. The Amboina 

 specimens closely match a large series of specimens in the 

 herbarium of the Bureau of Science from various parts of the 

 Philippines and a few specimens from Borneo and Java. It 

 is suspected that the typical form will be found to be of wide 

 distribution in the Malay Archipelago. Its exact status can now 

 be definitely determined by a direct comparison with the topotype 

 cited above. All authors have followed Linnaeus in the reduc- 

 tion of the Rumphian figure and description, so that the case 

 is not complicated by synonyms, except as species described by 

 later authors, without reference to Rumphius, may have been 

 reduced to typical Rubus moluccanus Linn. 



RUBUS FRAXINIFOLIUS Poir. in Lam. Encycl. 6 (1804) 242, subsp. 

 CELEBICUS (Blume) Focke in Bibl. Bot. 17 2 (1911) 150, /. 63. 



Rubus celebicus Blume Bijdr. (1826) 1107. 



Rubus parvifolius Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) 1197 p. p. (quoad syn. Rumph.). 

 Rubus moluccus parvifolius Rumph. Herb. Amb. 5: 88, t. 1>7, f. 1. 

 Amboina, near the town of Amboina, Robinson PI. Rumph. Amb. 271, 

 July 23, 1913, hillsides and river banks, altitude 5 to 10 meters. 



The Rumphian figure and description were cited by Linnaeus 

 in the original description of Rubus parvifolius, Sp. PL (1753) 



