Jim ASked, Jane, I'm curious about your recommendation to capitalize the initial O in >oncocyclus. If we do not capitalize the initial letters of genera used as >vernacular names, what justification is there for the capitalization the >initial letter of a subgeneric taxon used the same way? I do not interpret this as a "vernacular" name. There are many analogous instances, especially in such large genera as Saxifraga and Penstemon, where subgenus or section names are capitalized in this context. This is a judgment call, as many parts of editorial stylesheets are. > > >Now on to something entirely different. You mention a crocus name " there >are some names such as Crocus x jessopiae". Bowles published this name as >Crocus jessoppiae (i.e., with two letters p) and, as if to forestall any >"improvements" of his spelling went on to cite the name of the eponym, Miss >Euphemia Jessopp. I notice that both you and Brian Matthew use other >spellings. I think this might be a case of great minds thinking alike, but >incorrectly. Since Brian Mathew's (note that he himself has only one "t") monograph is the latest book-length authority on Crocus, I accept his spellings unless they have been superseded by, for instance, Flora Europaea. Jane McGary