481 Gardens’ Bulletin Singapore 73(2): 481–487. 2021 doi: 10.26492/gbs73(2).2021-18 Notes on the identity and taxonomy of Ixora cuneifolia and I. notoniana and typifcation of three names in Ixora P. Murugan 1* , C. Murugan 1 & K. Karthigeyan 2 1 Botanical Survey of India, Southern Regional Centre, TNAU campus, Coimbatore – 641003, Tamil Nadu, India * murulax@gmail.com 2 Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, P.O. Botanic Garden, Howrah – 711103, West Bengal, India ABSTRACT. Ixora predeepii Balan & S.Harikr. and Ixora sivarajiana Pradeep are synonymised under Ixora cuneifolia Roxb. and Ixora notoniana Wall. ex G.Don respectively. Lectotypes are designated for the names Ixora nigricans R.Br. ex Wight & Arn. and Ixora undulata Roxb. ex Sm. A second step lectotype is designated for the name Ixora cuneifolia Roxb. Keywords. India, lectotype, protologue, Rubiaceae, synonym, syntype, Western Ghats Introduction The genus Ixora L. is one of the largest genera in the tribe Ixoreae, subfamily Ixoroideae, family Rubiaceae (Bremer & Eriksson, 2009), with 530–576 species distributed worldwide (Davis et al., 2009; POWO, 2021). The centre of species diversity for the genus is Southeast Asia (Lorence et al., 2007). It is easily distinguished from other genera of Rubiaceae by its arborescent habit, articulate petioles, tetramerous fowers, exserted stamens, 2-celled ovary with uni-ovulate locules, drupaceous fruits, and seeds with a large adaxial hilar cavity (De Block, 2008; Mouly et al., 2009). In India, the genus is represented by 47 species of which 21 species are endemic (Nayar et al., 2014; Singh et al., 2015; Kottaimuthu, 2016). As part of revisionary studies in the family Rubiaceae in the Southern Western Ghats of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, specimens of two Ixora species were collected during the period 2019 to 2021 from four different localities. In the process of identifying these collections, questions were raised as to the status of two recently described Ixora species, I. predeepii Balan & S.Harikr. and I. sivarajiana Pradeep. The two names Ixora nigricans R.Br. ex Wight & Arn. and Ixora undulata Roxb. ex Sm. are lectotypifed. A second step lectotypifcation is done for the name Ixora cuneifolia Roxb. Materials and methods On consultation of the protologues, herbarium specimens and a perusal of literature (Husain & Paul, 1989), the specimens collected were identifed as Ixora cuneifolia Roxb.