Very interesting take, Jim and Robin, I am inclined to agree. We [humans] like to think the [natural] world is clean-cut and organized, something we have evolved to do, and it serves us well in other areas of our lives. Jack Horner once said "scientists like to name things." May I assume there is money to be made by "discovering" new taxa? We've interpolated our humanness into the products of taxonomy. To see what I'm talking about, simply compare the parameters used to differentiate species of, say, Galanthus which has species separated by seemingly miniscule details (also common in the Asteraceae) and loosely defined (considered "natural variability") in some of the species in genera such as Narcissus and many others. Does anyone else see this as a form of bias determined by the author(s) of a given genus/family? Travis Owen Rogue River, OR http://www.amateuranthecologist.com/ http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/