Leucojum
Rodger Whitlock (Wed, 31 Mar 2004 13:02:13 PST)
On 27 Mar 04 at 18:02, Mary Sue Ittner wrote:
Are you saying that the only two species that will be considering
Leucojum are Leucojum aestivum and L. vernum? Did I read that
right? All the rest will now be known as Acis? How in the world do
you pronounce Acis? Does the world follow what Kew proposes? This
isn't a change based on DNA testing, but a change on the basis of
physical characteristics? Is it possible that when DNA is done, that
they will all be back together?
I think I said it before but if the botanical names keep changing as
rapidly as they seem to lately soon we will no longer be able to say
to all those people who prefer using common names that using
botanical names allows us all to know that we are talking about the
same plant. How do we keep up?
Remember that the names in Leucojum remain validly published. You are
not required to conform. Indeed, I prefer to think of these all as
Leucojum since the English name "snowflake" covers them all.
But Acis is a very old name -- I think it predates Linnaeus.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate
on beautiful Vancouver Island