Abstract
Abelmoschus rhodopetalus has a complex nomenclatural history, having been confused with A. moschatus (A. moschatus subsp. tuberosus) and A. sagittifolius for a long time. An attempt has been made to revisit the taxonomy of A. rhodopetalus along with its synonyms, resulting proposal of two formae (A. rhodopetalus f. rhodopetalus and A. rhodopetalus f. flavopetalus) based on corolla colour. The paper also includes lectotypification of A. rhodopetalus, along with eight of its synonyms viz. A. brevicapsulatus, A. coccineus var. acerifolius, A. esquirolii, A. rugosus, A. sharpei, A. sagittifolius var. septentrionalis, A. todayensis and H. subnudus. First nomenclatural backbone for synonymizing A. sagitifolius is also provided.
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