606 TAXON 62 (3) • June 2013: 606–608 Seberg & al. • Ripogonum or Rhipogonum 606 Version of Record (identical to print version). INTRODUCTION The small genus Ripogonum J.R. Forst. & G. Forst. has been placed in Liliaceae subfam. Smilacoideae (e.g., Melchior, 1964), Smilacaceae (e.g., Hutchinson, 1973; Cronquist, 1981; Dahlgren & al., 1985: 127; Conran, 1998; Judd & al., 2002; Singh, 2004), or Ripogonaceae (e.g., Conran & Clifford, 1985; Seberg, 2006). Whereas recent phylogenetic studies have sup- ported the recognition of Ripogonaceae (e.g., Fay & al., 2006; Petersen & al., 2012), disagreements have persisted as to the correct spelling of it (Ripogonaceae or Rhipogonaceae ) and the genus name (Ripogonum or Rhipogonum) on which it is based. Ripogonum and Ripogonaceae are used by, e.g., Conran & Clifford (1985: 219), who validly published the family name; Willis (1966: 973); Mabberley (1987: 504, 1997: 619), Zomlefer (1994: 290), Takhtajan (1997: 522), APG (1998: 538), Conran (1998: 421), Judd & al. (2002: 251), and APG III (2009: 109). Rhipogonum and Rhipogonaceae are used by, e.g: Melchior (1964: 523), Hutchinson (1973: 764), Cronquist (1981: 1225– 1228), Brummitt (1992: 370, 374), Chant (1993: 320), Greuter & al. (1993a: 59, 1993b: 984), APG II (2003: 417), Bremer & al. (2003: 94), Singh (2004: 351), Soltis & al. (2005: 101, 103), Se- berg (2006: 400), Simpson (2006: 159; though the index refers to Ripogonaceae ), and Thorne & Reveal (2007: 78). The most recent version of Mabberley’s Plant-Book (2008: 736, 801–802) adds to the confusion by placing Rhipogonum in the subfamily Ripogonoideae of the Smilacaceae while referencing the genus name Ripogonum and the family name Ripogonaceae! THE HISTORY OF RIPOGONUM AND RHIPOGONUM Creating the new genus name Ripogonum (without an “h”), Forster & Forster (1776: 49) gave a clear etymology of the name (see below). The Forsters’ spelling was maintained by Robert Brown (1810: 293) and Endlicher (1836: 155). Dietrich (1840: 1122) was the first to use Rhipogonum (with the “h”) but he provided no explanation for the change. Subsequent authors mainly adopted the spelling Rhipogonum, including, e.g., Hooker (1853: 253), Bentham (1878: 8), and Candolle (1878: 213). Forster & Forster (1776: 50) explained the etymology of the name Ripogonum as “Composita vox ex ῥίψ, ῥιπός, vimen, et γόνῡ genu geniculum, articulus; est enim haec planta genicu- lata et viminea. ” Thus, the name Ripogonum means an osier (ῥίψ) with knees (γόνῡ). The crucial issue is the transliteration of the Greek “ῥίψ” into Latin as either “rips” or “rhips”, which depends on the transliteration of the Greek letter “ ῥ ” (rho with spiritus asper) into the Roman “ r ” as either just “ r ” or the aspirated form “ rh ”. The latter transliteration was used by the Romans, but transliteration rules have varied over time. In Species Planta- rum, Linnaeus (1753) usually transliterated “ ῥ ” as “ rh ”, e.g., Rhamnus, Rheum, Rhinanthus, Rhizophora, Rhodiola, Rhus, and Rhododendron, but not in Raphanus, probably because it was spelled without an “h” in classical Latin. Dietrich (1840: 1122), who was the first to use the spelling Rhipogonum, most likely just followed this tradition. In a rather careless treatment Candolle (1878: 213) tried to explain the differences in spelling by correctly referring to Dietrich “(Syn. 2, p. 222 [1122])” as the first to introduce the “h” in the name, but apparently over- looking that Forster & Forster (1776) did provide an etymology. Instead Candolle cited the etymology provided by J.D. Hooker (1853: 253), which essentially just repeated the original: “Name from ῥίψ, a twig, and γόνῡ, a joint ” (Hooker 1853: 253). Thus, essentially neither Candolle (1878) nor J.D. Hooker (1853) pro- vided any explanation for the changed spelling. Candolle (1878) additionally misspelled the Latin word “vimen” as “rimen” meaning a crack/crevice/fissure. To aitch or not to aitch: Ripogonum ( Ripogonaceae ) or Rhipogonum ( Rhipogonaceae )? Ole Seberg, 1 Gitte Petersen1 & Peter Wagner2 1 The Natural History Museum of Denmark, Sølvgade 83, opg. S., 1307 Copenhagen K, Denmark 2 Jens Otto Krags Gade 11, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark Author for correspondence: Ole Seberg, oles@snm.ku.dk Abstract For over 150 years, the correct spelling of the genus name Ripogonum (Rhipogonum) and the derived family name Ripogonaceae (Rhipogonaceae) has been the subject of uncertainty. The different spellings in use are due to transliterations of the Greek letter “ ῥ ” (rho with spiritus asper) into Latin as either “ r ” or “ rh ”. As neither of Ripogonum or Rhipogonum can be considered incorrect, priority must be given to the original spelling of the name used, Ripogonum. Therefore, Ripogonaceae is the correct spelling for the family name. Keywords nomenclature; orthography; Ripogonaceae; Ripogonum Received: 16 Aug. 2012; revision received: 25 Mar. 2013; accepted: 9 Apr. 2013