mel turner schreef

http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/...jan04lit.shtml

which says

"Mabberley, D. J. 2002. The identity of Swietenia alternifolia (Mill.)
Steud. ('Meliaceae'). Gard. Bull. Singapore 54: 253-255.

Here is a shocker, and one that managed to slip by us first time around.
The name Swietenia alternifolia (Mill.) Steud. (based on Cedrus
alternifolia Mill.) had been rejected from Meliaceae (in Pennington &
Styles, Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 28: 385, 405. 1981), but there the matter
rested until now. Older names in limbo status are always intriguing,
and this one proves to be no exception. The original description of
Cedrus alternifolia was based on plants grown in England from seeds
collected at Campeche (Yucatán), supplemented by the field notes of the
collector, William Houstoun. Neotypification of the name is here
achieved on the basis of a recently discovered Houstoun collection from
Campeche at BM, appropriately annotated and unequivocally identifiable
as the sp. long known throughout the Neotropics as Luehea speciosa
Willd. (Tiliaceae, or Malvaceae s. l.). In fact, Miller's name predates
Willdenow's by over 40 years, prompting the new combination Luehea
alternifolia (Mill.) Mabb., which becomes (at least for the time being)
the correct name for the sp."

cheers

***
On the face of it this looks bad.

In encountering such an old disused name it is good practice to see to it
that it does not come to life and displace a well established name. Or in
the words of the XV IBC:

===
The International code of botanical nomenclature is therefore published
under the ultimate authority of the International Botanical Congresses. The
Tokyo Congress at its final plenary session adopted the following resolution
relating to nomenclatu

"Considering the great importance of a stable system of scientific names of
plants for use in the pure and applied sciences and in many other domains of
public life and economy;

"noting with satisfaction recent important improvements in the International
code of botanical nomenclature and ongoing efforts to explore new avenues
for increased stability and security in the application of plant names;

"the XV International Botanical Congress urges plant taxonomists, while such
work continues, to avoid displacing well established names for purely
nomenclatural reasons, whether by change in their application or by
resurrection of long-forgotten names;

"resolves that the decisions of the Nomenclature Section with respect to the
International code of botanical nomenclature, as well as the appointment of
officers and members of the nomenclature committees, made by that section
during its meetings, 22-27 August, be accepted."
===

So prof Mabberley should not have made the new combination without giving
thought to either conserving Luehea speciosa or rejecting Cedrus
alternifolia. Maybe he did indeed do so and decided Luehea speciosa is not
well-known enough to be worth preserving?

I see that the TROPICOS database switched to L.alternifolia already.
So far nobody published a proposal. Apparently nobody is feeling strongly
enough about Luehea speciosa to do something about it?
PvR