The correct name of Radermachera pinnata (Bignoniaceae)

The names of two widespread tree species from tropical Asia, Radermachera pinnata (Blanco) Seemann (1870: 147) (Bignoniaceae) and Meliosma pinnata (Roxb.) Maximowicz (1867: 64) (Sabiaceae), are based on the orthographically identical binomial Millingtonia pinnata . The earlier of the two basionyms is Millingtonia pinnata Roxburgh (1820: 103), making Millingtonia pinnata Blanco (1837: 501) an illegitimate later homonym. Radermachera pinnata must therefore be considered an avowed substitute with priority dating from 1870 (ICBN Art. 58.1; McNeill et al . 2006). However, there are several names with priority over Radermachera pinnata (see synonymy in van Steenis 1976). The earliest of these is Millingtonia quadripinnata Blanco (1837: 501). Merrill (1908) was the first to equate Blanco’s two species of Millingtonia , and he reduced M. quadripinnata to a synonym of M. pinnata . Merrill’s interpretation of the identity of M. quadripinnata was followed by van Steenis (1928, 1976, 1977), but the application of the name remains unfixed in the absence of a type. There are no extant Blanco specimens (Veldkamp 1989, Nicolson & Veldkamp 2003), so neotypification is required. This is done here to secure the accepted application of the name. The correct name for Radermachera pinnata therefore becomes R. quadripinnata . A new combination is required for a widely recognised subspecies. This is made below.