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Issue: Vol. 782 No. 3: 30 Oct. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-10-30
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.782.3.7
Page range: 291-296
Abstract views: 38
PDF downloaded: 4

Towards a reliable taxonomy of Balanophora subgen. Balania (Balanophoraceae): Balanophora cucphuongensis remains invalidly published and belongs to B. harlandii

1Department of Higher Plants; Faculty of Biology; M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University; 1; 12; Leninskie Gory; 119234 Moscow; Russia; 2Joint Vietnam-Russia Tropical Science and Technology Research Center; A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution; Russian Academy of Sciences; 33; Leninsky avenue; 119071 Moscow; Russia
1Department of Higher Plants; Faculty of Biology; M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University; 1; 12; Leninskie Gory; 119234 Moscow; Russia
3Botanical Museum; Finnish Museum of Natural History; PO Box 7; FI-00014 University of Helsinki; Helsinki; Finland
Eudicots grey literature holoparasitic plants nomenclature Southeast Asia Vietnam

Abstract

The paper contributes to understanding the taxonomic diversity of the Old World holoparasitic genus Balanophora and to the proper nomenclatural treatment of its members. Through an exhaustive literature search we demonstrate that the name B. cucphuongensis widely used in the Vietnamese regional floristic accounts and Red Data Books has never been validly published, because a study with its planned protologue has not appeared in print and the conditions for valid publication have not been fulfilled elsewhere later. Furthermore, although B. cucphuongensis has been consistently considered a distinct species endemic to northern Vietnam, its morphology as described matches closely the characters of B. harlandii, which is broadly distributed in mainland Asia. We therefore clarify the nomenclatural status of B. cucphuongensis as nomen invalidum and demonstrate that it is indistinguishable from B. harlandii.

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How to Cite

Nuraliev, M.S., Zavialov, A.E. & Sennikov, A.N. (2026) Towards a reliable taxonomy of Balanophora subgen. Balania (Balanophoraceae): Balanophora cucphuongensis remains invalidly published and belongs to B. harlandii. Phytotaxa 782 (3): 291–296. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.782.3.7