(124) Request for a binding decision on whether the names <i>Vasconcellosia</i> Caruel ( <i>Caricaceae</i> ) and <i>Vasconcelosia</i> Hentschke &amp; al. ( <i>Cyanobacteriota</i> ) are sufficiently alike to be confused

(124) Vasconcellosia Caruel (1876) [Angiosp.: Caric.] Vasconcelosia Hentschke & al. (2024) [Algae] The monotypic genus Vasconcellosia was established by the Italian botanist Théodore Caruel (1830–1898) (in Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital. 8: 22. 1876) to accommodate a single species, V. hastata (Brign.) Caruel, based on Carica hastata Brign. (in Mem. Mat. Fis. Soc. Ital. Sci. Modena, ser. 2, 1: 77. 1862). The generic name Vasconcellosia honors “P[adre]. Simão de Vasconcellos” (1597–ca. 1672), Brazilian Catholic priest and historian (Caruel, l.c.: 24). Currently, Vasconcellosia is treated as a synonym of Vasconcellea A. St.-Hil. (Eggli, Caricaceae in Eggli & Nyffeler, Dicotyledons: Rosids (Ill. Handb. Succ. Pl.). 2023; Martins & Carvalho, Caricaceae [Vasconcellea] in Flora do Brasil. 2020; Vasconcellea in Plants of the World Online [POWO]; both databases accessed 30 Sep 2025). Very recently, as a result of phylogenetic and morphological analysis, the new monotypic genus Vasconcelosia Hentschke & al. was established as a cyanobacterial genus within the family Cymatolegaceae (Nodosilineales) from a sample collected from the Minho River estuary at Caminha, Portugal (Oliveira & al. in J. Phycol. 60: 1290. 2024) with the type V. minhoensis Hentschke & al. (l.c.). Currently, the genus Vasconcelosia Hentschke & al. is an endemic to Portugal with a single species. The generic name Vasconcelosia is in honor of Vitor M. Vasconcelos, cyanobacteria researcher, director of CIIMAR and founder of LEGE-CC. Both names, Vasconcellosia Caruel and Vasconcelosia Hentschke & al., honour persons, Simão de Vasconcellos and Vitor M. Vasconcelos respectively. I consider that these names are confusable in spelling. As the algal genus Vasconcelosia Hentschke & al. was very recently discovered no such confusion existed until now, but in the future the two names are sufficiently alike to cause confusion, despite belonging to different groups and geographical regions, as their spellings differ in only one letter (“ll” and “l”) and have the same pronunciation. On the other hand, so long as Vasconcellosia Caruel is treated as a heterotypic synonym of Vasconcellea A. St.-Hil., it will not be in use, reducing the risk of confusion. Therefore, I am requesting a binding decision under Art. 53.4 of the Madrid Code (Turland & al. in Regnum Veg. 162. 2025) as to whether the generic names Vasconcellosia Caruel (Caricaceae) and Vasconcelosia Hentschke & al. (Cymatolegaceae) are sufficiently alike to be confused and thus should be treated as homonyms. If a decision is made to treat them as homonyms, the later published algal genus name, Vasconcelosia Hentschke & al., would need to be given a new name in accordance with the Code. I am grateful to Professor John McNeill and Dr. John H. Wiersema for valuable comments, which improved the text, and for their careful editing of the manuscript. I am grateful to the management authorities and Dr. M.B. Shende, Head of the Department of Botany, Janata Mahavidyalaya, Chandrapur for providing facilities.