Omphalea triandra Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, ed. 10, 2: 1264. 1759, typ. cons. ["Habitat in Jamaica."] Sp. Pl., ed. 2, 2: 1377 (1763). RCN: 7101. Type not designated. Original material: Herb. Linn. No. 1102.1 (LINN); [icon] in Browne, Civ. Nat. Hist. Jamaica: 335, t. 22, f. 4. 1756. Generitype of Omphalea Linnaeus, nom. cons. Current name: Omphalea triandra L. (Euphorbiaceae). Note: Omphalea Linnaeus, nom. cons, against Omphalandria P. Browne. Omphalea triandra presents particular difficulties because the original material, a Patrick Browne specimen (1102.1 LINN) and Browne’s cited illustration (t. 22, f. 4) are identifiable as Pouteria multiflora (A. DC.) Eyma (Sapotaceae). Gillespie (in Jarvis & al., Regnum Veg. 127: 70. 1993) designated a Swartz collection in Herb. Thunberg (No. 22721, UPS) as a neotype. As explained by Jarvis & al., l.c.: 6. 1993), with the non adoption of the NCU proposals with which their Linnaean Generic List was linked, this neotypification is untenable because original material is in existence. It appears that a conservation proposal is necessary if Omphalea (Euphorbiaceae, and itself conserved) is not to become the correct name for Pouteria (Sapotaceae).

Published as part of Jarvis, Charlie, 2007, Chapter 7: Linnaean Plant Names and their Types (part O), pp. 696-717 in Order out of Chaos. Linnaean Plant Types and their Types, London :Linnaean Society of London in association with the Natural History Museum on page 699, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.291971