Family Information
Mary Sue Ittner (Wed, 19 Nov 2008 07:55:44 PST)

Nhu asked about why Sternbergia was included in Alliaceae in the article
Jim noted about Sternbergia. That is because the Angiospermy Phylogeny
Group (2003) proposed sinking Amaryllidaceae and Agapanthaceae into
Alliaceae. You will note if you check the Kew monocot world check list for
family listings that this list uses the suggested alternatives so all the
genera that were once in Amaryllidaceae are now listed in Alliaceae.
Another example is the alternative placement by APG (2003) in Asparagaceae
of Agavaceae, Anthericaceae, Hyacinthaceae, and Themidaceae. If you look up
any genus in the Kew list that used to be in one of those families you now
find them listed in Asparagaceae. This makes for some giant families. It's
hard for me to think how Brodiaea, Lachenalia, Pasithea, Agave and
Asparagus are alike enough to all be in the same family. For those of us
who consider ourselves gardeners, not botanists, it means that there is no
real advantage in learning the different families and which genera are now
included in them since those definitions have become so broad.

Mary Sue