(2738) Trevia hernandiifolia Roth, Nov. Pl. Sp.: 374. Apr 1821 [Angiosp.: Euphorb .], nom. utique rej. prop.

Holotypus: India orientalis, Heyne (?B [destr.]).

Roth (Nov. Pl. Sp.: 374. 1821) published the name Trevia hernandiifolia (as ‘Trewia hernandifolia ') based on material from India supplied by Benjamin Heyne. Since its publication, the name has never been taken up by any other author. It seems likely that Roth's type was destroyed during the Allied bombing of Berlin in 1943, and no original material or other collections by Heyne or associated botanists, such as J.G. Klein or J.P. Rottler, pertinent to Roth's protologue have been reported or traced. Roth's name has therefore only ever been cited as a doubtful synonym of various peltate‐leaved species of Macaranga . Sprengel (Syst. Veg. 3: 878. 1826) cited Trevia hernandiifolia (as ‘Trewia hernandifolia ’) as a synonym of Mappa moluccana Spreng. (≡ Macaranga mappa (L.) Müll. Arg.). But as this species is endemic to the Philippines, Sulawesi and the Moluccas (Whitmore, Gen. Macaranga: 180–181. 2008), this placement cannot be correct. Roth's name has since been cited as a questionable synonym of Macaranga indica Wight (Icon. Pl. Ind. Orient. 5(2): 23, t. 1883. 1852) (Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 5: 446. 1890; Pax & Hoffmann in Engler, Pflanzenr. IV. 147 VII (Heft 63): 349. 1914; Whitmore, l.c., 2008: 157; Qiu & Gilbert in Wu & Raven, Fl. China 11: 239. 2008). Whitmore (in Gard. Bull. Singapore 31: 53. 1978) also suggested that it referred to Macaranga denticulata (Blume) Müll. Arg. In the absence of type material, no‐one has been sufficiently confident as to the identity of Roth's plant to take up the name in Macaranga . This reluctance is probably related to displacing a well‐known name with one that has never been used.

Macaranga indica Wight, the most likely candidate for the identity of Roth's plant, is an Asian species with a wide range, occurring from Sri Lanka and southern India northward, and then in a wide arc from northern India to southern China and Indo‐China to Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra (Whitmore, l.c. 2008). Macaranga indica Wight is a name widely used in floras and checklists (e.g., Gagnepain in Lecomte, Fl. Indo‐Chine 5: 444. 1926; Whitmore, Tree Fl. Malaya 2: 107. 1973; Long, Fl. Bhutan 1: 805. 1987; Philcox in Dassanayake & Clayton, Revis. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 11: 169. 1997; Kress & al. in Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 45: 231. 2003; Balakrishnan & Chakrabarty, Fam. Euphorb. India: 141. 2007; Whitmore & Davies in Santisuk & Larsen, Fl. Thailand 8: 371. 2007; Qiu & Gilbert, l.c.; Rahman in Ahmad, Encycl. Fl. Fauna Bangladesh 7: 454. 2008). This species has also received attention from phytochemists for a class of prenylated flavonoids named macarindicins (Yang & al. in Fitoterapia 103: 187–191. 2015; Vu & al. in Nat. Prod. Res. 9: 1–8. 2019).

In order to maintain nomenclatural stability, I propose that the name Trevia hernandiifolia Roth be rejected.