Reinstatement of Synonymised Magnoliaceae Taxa and Their Transfer to Magnolia

Three new names are proposed and three new combinations are formally made to transfer six taxa endemic to SE Yunnan, China, from the segregate genera of Manglietia and Michelia to Magnolia, now widely recognised as the remaining genus in the subfamily Magnolioideae of Magnoliaceae. These taxa are Manglietia tenuifolia, Michelia balansae var. brevipes, M. brachyandra, M. chartacea, M. nitida and M. oblongifolia, which are reinstated from synonymy on the basis of extensive comparative data confirming them as the unique taxa originally described and named in the 1980s. The necessary replacement names Magnolia cheniana, M. gulinqingensis and M. valderi are proposed for Michelia nitida, M. oblongifolia and Manglietia tenuifolia respectively, which would otherwise produce later illegitimate homonyms to the existing names Magnolia nitida, M. oblongifolia and the existing fossil name M. tenuifolia, respectively. The remaining three taxa retain their specific epithets when transferred as new combinations to Magnolia. Notes and recommendations on the conservation of each of the six taxa are presented, since they have not been independently evaluated in the wild for more than three decades as a result of being reduced to synonyms of more widespread taxa, despite having an average of ten diagnostic features distinguishing them from these earlier-named taxa.