118 
MERRILL. 
Luzon, Province of Cagayan, For. Bur. 18596 Alvarez: Manila, from cultivated 
plants, seeds from Pampanga Province, Lyon s. n. 
Native name: Sabual (Pampanga). 
Messrs. Piper and Tracy have recently studied the various cultivated forms of 
Mucuna, under the title “The Florida Velvet Bean and Related Plants” 1. e., and 
have come to the conclusion that the Philippine Mucuna lyonii Merr., is identical 
with the Indian M. niveum W. & A., or as they prefer to call it, Stizolobium 
niveum (Roxb.) 0. Ktze. They are undoubtedly correct in the above conclusion, 
but I can not concur with them in the opinion that “Mucuna nivea DC.” which 
is a nomen nudum, based on Carpopogon niveum Roxb. Hort. Beng. (1814) 54, 
nomen nudum, is a species distinct from Mucuna nivea W. & A. Under present 
rules DeCandolle’s name, not being properly “published” has no standing. The 
chief character by which Messrs. Piper & Tracy attempt to separate “Mucuna 
nivea DC.,” from M. nivea W. & A., is that the legumes, when ripe, are entirely 
free from pubescence, a character expressly stated by Roxburgh in the original 
description of his Carpopogon niveum, FI. Ind. 3 (1832) 285, on which M.ucuna 
nivea W. & A. was based. 
India; cultivated in other warm countries. 
9. Mucuna deeringiana (Bort) comb. nov. 
Stizolobium deeringianum Bort U. S. Dept. Agr. Bureau Plant Ind. Bull. 141 
(1909) 31, pi. 2, 8. 
Luzon, Province of Pampanga, Merrill s. n. : Province of Bataan, Lamao, 
For. Bur. 1817 Borden. 
The origin of the above species is unknown, and its status is- not definitely 
known. The two Philippine specimens were undoubtedly raised from American 
seeds, the first from seeds distributed by the Philippine Bureau of Agriculture, 
while the second appeared in nursery beds at Lamao. For a history of the 
form see Bort, Katherine Stephens, “The Florida Velvet Bean and its History.” 
It is possible that the species is only a cultural form of Mucuna nivea, M. velutina, 
or some other species. 
10. Mucuna aurea C. B. Rob. in Philip. Journ. Sci. 3 (1908) Bot. 183. 
Luzon, Province of Benguet, Williams 1292. 
Endemic. 
This last species can not be placed in its proper section until fruits are 
secured; it is well characterized among the Philippine species by its ferruginous- 
tomentose indumentum. 
The generic name Mucuna Adans. (1763) has been retained in accordance 
with the list of nomina conservanda of the Vienna Botanical Congress. Older 
names are Stisolobium and Zoopthalmum, both of P. Browne (1756), and both 
of these have been taken up by various later authors. The whole subject has 
been well discussed by Prain, 57 who treats both P. Browne’s names as sub- 
genera of Mucuna, but expresses the opinion that both ZoopthalmiCm and Stizolo- 
bium will probably at an early date be again considered generically distinct. ■ 
EXCLUDED SrECIES. 
Mucuna capitata W. & A.; F.-Vill. Nov. App. (1880) 63. 
I have seen no Philippine material that I consider referable to this species ; 
probably credited to the Philippines on an erroneous identification. 
U. S. Dept. Ag r. Bureau of Plant Industry, Bull. 141 s (1909) 25-32. 
Journ. As. Soc. Beng. 66 2 (1897) 404-407. 
