To me the matter seems to be not as simple. There seems to be a lot of inconsistency of literature. GRIN and IPNI list I. dichroa Choisy (meaning Choisy is the Author of the name), The Plant List mentions I. dichoroa Hochst in A. Rich (which means Hochst. was author of name in publication of A. Rich.), whereas Flora Mozambique (based on *Pickering, H. & Roe, E. (2009)<http://www.mozambiqueflora.com/speciesdata/literature-display.php?literature_id=494> . **Wild Flowers of the Victoria Falls Area *Helen Pickering, London Page 54.) lists I. dichroa Hochst. ex Choisy (meaning Hochst. gave the name but Choisy validated it at a later date). I imagine all refer to the same taxon I. dichroa Hochst ex Choisy should be legitimate name. The Plant List considers Ipomoea dichoroa Hochst in A. Rich as synonym of I. calophylla Fenzl., considering I. arachnosperma Welw. as an accepted name and a distinct species, as does also the eFlora of Pakistan. Let us remember the fact that I. arachnosperma Welw. and I. dichroa Hochst. ex Choisy are heterotypic, originally described as distinct species, and whether they are to be treated as same species (synonyms) or distinct taxa is a matter of taxonomic judgement, and both sets of people treating them as synonyms (when I. dichroa Choisy would be the accepted name) or distinct species would be justified in their own right. But ultimately it is logical to follow most recent interpretation of Flora Mozambique, which treats I. dichroa Hochst ex Choisy as accepted name and I. arachnosperma Welw. as synonym, and followed by GRIN, Flora of Zambia and African Plant Database, 2009. Important to mention that both species had originally been described from Africa .
-- Dr. Gurcharan Singh Retired Associate Professor SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ On Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 4:41 AM, Ron_Convolvulaceae <[email protected]>wrote: > Hello, <https://docs.google.com> >> > > Hello, > > The plant looks to match Ipomoea dichroa to my mind, > > I would opine that Ipomoea dichroa is the current accepted name and that > Ipomoea *arachnosperma* has *synonym status only*. > > Ipomoea dichroa (Choisy) > http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?402159 > > > Ipomoea arachnosperma (Welw.) > http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?402160 > > The current accepted name should be used in place of older outdated > synonyms , otherwise people get the impression that synonym in botany means > = "The same as" and that is not true because *the synonym in botany > refers to the outdated name that is no longer current as the legitimate > name *and *that* is why it has only the *status of synonym*. > > regards, > > Ron > > > [image: Logo for Google Docs] <https://docs.google.com> - > tracked<https://docs.google.com> >> >
