Notes

On back of sheet: HB. VAHLII. Croton mollissimum (Geiseler! China Tricocca (manu?? Vahl) On sheet: Rottlera vel?? Claoxylon ? F. Didr. Label1: Mallotus ricinoides Müll. Arg. Croton ricinoides Pers. (1806) Croton mollissimus Geisel. (1807) Det. Müll. Arg. Label2: Bearbeitet für das "Pflanzenreich". Mallotus ricinoides (Pers.) Muell. Arg. Det. F. PAX. Label3: The Chinese origin of the holotype of Croton mollissimus is unsupported by direct evidence of collection. Mueller Arg. appears to know that both this holotype and a specimen in the herbarium of De Candolle (in DC. Prodr. 15/2: 964. 1866) were collected by Staunton in China. The Decandollean material should be studied for further data, but they is scarcely room to doubt that Geiselerns note making C. mollissimus a Chinese endemic is erroneous. M. ricinoidess, which C. mollissimus represents, is not known to me with certainty from China, though it may occurr in Hainan. Vahl's material here represented is probably indonesian. The four "characters" that have been described by Geiseler in the presentation of C. mollissimus (Croton Monogr. 74. 1807), and in my opinion implicitly exclude Mallotus (Journ. Arn. Arb. 19: 142. 1938) can be explained interpreting the holotype at hand. "Caulis herbaceus" and "folia utrinque tomentosa" belong only to short section of freely growing branchlets, ant to young leaves. "Flores masculi cum femineis mixti" is an error of observation, the young fruits that "grow" on the male cyme having bee glued uponit at mounting. "Styli fusci pennicellati" badly interprets the papillate sigmatic surfaces of Mallotus. July 14 th, 1938 Leon Croizat Arnold Arboretum Harvard University Jamaica Plain Mass., U.S.A NB. This letter was written after Croizat's publication in J. Arnold Arb. 19(27 Apr. 1938) 141 J.F. Veldkamp 5/04 Label3:Croton mollissimus Geiseler Holo-TYPE Label4: Mallotus mollissimus (Geiseler) Airy Shaw Det. Soraya Sierra Date: 28 May 2004 Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Universiteit Leiden branch (L)