The place of publication of several species names in Mallostoma has been variously cited, and most often incorrectly. The form of the names has also been given incorrectly in some cases: Mallostoma is neuter, and thus the epithets published in Hedyotis and other genera that end in "-ensis" must be adjusted in Mallostoma to "-ense".

Hooker was the author of the Rubiaceae in the Genera Plantarum (1873), and he accepted Mallostoma as the name for the species now included in Arcytophyllum. He listed there various species he included in Mallostoma, but he cited them as species of Hedyotis. Thus, he did not directly associate the genus name Mallostoma with the individual species epithets, so these are not validly published combinations under today's Code of Nomenclature. These were cited as combinations made by him in Mallostoma by other 19th-century authors and several early 20th-century authors, and that usage was copied on in the literature; this was accurate at the time under some nomenclatural rules in use then, but it is not accurate now and the continued use of those citations has created confusion because automatic searches often list the same name several times with different authorships.

Another source of confusion here is that the Genera Plantarum was authored by Bentham & Hooker, but it is stated clearly in that work that Hooker was the sole author of the Rubiaceae. Thus, under our Code of Nomenclature, Hooker is the sole author of the Rubiaceae names attributed to this work. However, over the years these have been variously attributed to Hooker, as Hook.f.; to Bentham & Hooker; variously to the elder Hooker or the son; and to Bentham alone.

The valid publication of several names in Mallostoma was effected later, when they were compiled and published in the Index Kewensis. They were attributed there to Bentham & Hooker, but the publishing author was the author of tat work, B.D. Jackson. The attribution there to Bentham & Hooker was a bibliographic reference, not specific authorship, so the reference authorship of the names is correctly cited as "Hook.f." and the publishing authorship is "ex B.D. Jacks." The authorship of these names have also been cited in various ways and thus the same names appear multiple times in some indices, including with the charming but deeply inaccurate authorships "B.D. Jacks. & Hook.f." or "Hook.f. & Hook.f", found in some IPNI entries.