178 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL III, April, 1949 
gest its precise position. The salient features 
in its original description are as follows: petioles 
2-3 cm. long; leaf blades narrowly long-lanceo- 
late, 12-20 cm. long, 1.5-3 cm. broad, glabrous; 
cymes many flowered; corolla tube 1.5-2 mm. 
long; corolla lobes 3-4 mm. long; follicles 15- 
25 cm. long. Of the Alstonia specimens exam- 
ined the only species I accredit to Samoa are 
A. Reineckeana, A. Setchelliana, and A. mon- 
tana. The leaf shape of A. Reineckeana is vari- 
able and it is not impossible that examples 
can be found like that of A. Godeffroyi. Ex- 
amples are available of narrowly lanceolate 
leaves in A. cost at a\ this species, however, has 
not yet been collected west of the Cook Islands. 
"Alstonia intercedens” in van Heurck, Obs. 
Bot. 176. 1871. — nom. nud. Appears in the 
discussion under A. quaternata, likely through 
error. 
A. Kurzii: see A. scholaris. 
A. longissima: see A. spectabilis. 
A. paucinervia: see A. macrophylla. 
Alstonia pedicellata Pierre ex A. Cheval., 
Veg. Ut. Afr. Trop. Franc. 9: 273. 1917. — 
pro synon. Chevalier cited this name, ex Pierre 
MS., in synonymy under A. con gen sis. However, 
Chevalier’s concept of A. congensis is question- 
able as he distributed specimens of A. Boonei 
under this name ( Chevalier 2690 and 15194). 
A. Setchelliana: see A. Reineckeana. 
Alstonia spectabilis var. bantamensis 
Blume, Bijdr. FI. Ned. Ind. 16: 1037. 1826. 
Type. — "montanis Provinciae Bantam.” I am 
uncertain about Blume’s concept of A. spec- 
tabilis. His description of the leaves being in 
verticils of 4—6 suggests a form of A. scholaris, 
or possibly A. angustiloba, rather than A. spec- 
tabilis. The diagnosis given by Blume for his 
variety is: "foliis cuneato-oblongis obtusiusculis, 
umbella terminali simplici.” It is unlikely that 
the variety refers to A. spatulata, as this species 
was known to Blume, who was its author. 
Alstonia viscosa K. Schum. ex. Engl., in 
Sitz. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. 38: 829. 1908. — 
nom. nud. Listed without description or any 
other reference by A. Engler, P flanzen geo graph - 
ische Gliederung von Africa, under the section 
dealing with the Congo basin and the area 
where Pogge collected in 1883. There are only 
two species of Alstonia known from Africa, 
namely A. congensis and A. Boonei. 
A. villosa f. calvescens: see A. spectabilis. 
EXCLUDED SPECIES 
Alstonia ciliata Benth., PL Hartweg. 48. 
1840. Type. — "In loco Banco ditto,” Hartweg 
366, Mexico. ( Itype coll; sterile; G.) Cor- 
rected by Bentham in the same work (1841) 
to Symplocos. The species is placed by A. Brand 
(1901: 80) under Symplocos coccinea var. 
Benthamii ( Giirke ) Brand. 
Alstonia costulata Miquel, FI. Ind. Bat. 
Suppl. 556. 1860. Type. — "Sumatra occid. in 
prov. Priaman (Diepenhorst ) .” =Dy era costul- 
ata (Miquel) Hook. f. 
Alstonia edulis G. Benn., in Jour. Bot. 5: 
150. 1867. George Bennett received the fruits 
of this species from D. N. Joubert, who brought 
them from New Caledonia and also gave infor- 
mation regarding them. The species is said to 
be a climbing plant growing most luxuriantly 
in all the thick scrubs along the banks of fresh- 
water streams; leaves heart-shaped, of a dark- 
green color; fruits in clusters, downy skinned, 
and exuding a milky juice. The natives in the 
vicinity of Port de France call it Jecko, and 
use it as food. Some of the fruits were cooked 
by Bennett, who found them "of an agreeable 
flavor.” Bennett’s reference to this plant is 
very casual, and no mention is made of it by 
subsequent authors, except Guillaumin ( 191 1^: 
195), who cites ”A. edulis G. Benn. — Noumea 
(Vieillard) .” There are no vines in Alstonia, 
and no known species in the genus has cordate 
leaves. Obviously, A. edulis is not an Alstonia. 
Alstonia eximia Miquel, FI. Ind. Bat. Suppl. 
555. 1860. Type. — "Bangka, prope Djebus 
(Teysmann) .” ( ! L ) =Dyera costulata (Mi- 
quel) Hook. f. 
