The Old World species of Pouzolzia (Urticaceae, tribus Boehmerieae). A taxonomic revision

The Old World species of the genus Pouzolzia have been revised and 24 species and 13 infraspecific taxa recognised. Worldwide, the genus now totals 36 species and 17 infraspecific taxa. Pouzolzia sect. Memorialis Bennett & Brown (including the genera Gonostegia Turcz. and Hyrtanandra Miq.) is maintained here as a section of Pouzolzia. The characters used to separate Pouzolzia from Boehmeria are found to work worldwide. In the Old World, the genus ranges, west to east, from Senegal to Japan and the Solomon Islands, and, north to south, from China, the Himalayas and Yemen to South Africa, Madagascar, Australia and the Lord Howe, Norfolk and Kermadec Is. Some species are common and occur almost throughout tropical Indomalesia or are widespread in Africa; others are rare and with a narrow range, for example restricted to one or a few oceanic islands. Each of the taxa occurring in the Old World is described and illustrated, habitats and geographical ranges are indicated, conservation status is discussed on the basis of our impression of old and new collecting activity, and distributions are mapped. The following new taxa are described: P. tsaratananensis Friis & Wilmot Dear from Madagascar, P. herpetophyton Friis & Wilmot‐Dear from the Comoro Is., and P. zeylanica subsp. calcicola Friis & Wilmot‐Dear and P. thailandica Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, both from southern Thailand. A new name, P. variifolia Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, is proposed for P. heterophylla (Blume) Wedd., nom. illeg. The following new combinations are published here: P. australis (Endl.) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. sanguinea (Blume) Merr. var. formosana (Li) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. sanguinea (Blume) Merrill var. cinerascens (Blume) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. mixta Solms var. shirensis (Rendle) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. hirta (Blume) Hasskarl var. parvifolia (Wight) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear, P. pentandra (Roxb.) Benn. & R. Br. subsp. wightii (Benn. & R. Br.) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear. and subsp. wightii (Benn. & R. Br.) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear var. gracilis (Miq.) Friis & Wilmot‐Dear. The following taxa are reduced to synonymy for the first time: Pouzolzia argenteonitida W.‐T. Wang, P. bracteosa Friis, P. calophylla W.‐T. Wang & C.‐J. Chen, P. guineensis Benth. var. seyrigii Leandri, P. guineensis Benth. var. madagascariensis Wedd., P. baronii Leandri, and P. auriculata Wight.