Family classification

Nhu Nguyen xerantheum@gmail.com
Wed, 28 Apr 2010 12:44:08 PDT
Hi,

I share Jane's annoyance with gardeners who have knee-jerking reactions to
name changes. These changes are made to reflect the latest evidence we have
regarding the evolutionary biology of organisms. Being able to sequence the
genetic material of all living organisms provided us with a powerful new way
to classify them. It is a revolution in science, and with any revolution
there are major disruptions that cannot be avoided. Furthermore, these
changes are made solely on scientific merits and should not be influenced by
economics. With that said, there is a little bit of wiggle room for how
those changes are made and it is up to the researcher to decide what
directions to take. New names are intrinsically linked to old names so
technically one can look it up in a database somewhere and still be talking
about the same organism despite usage of different names.

From the seller's point of view, it is understandable to use a name that is
best selling. However, it does not take up that much more room to at least
include the latest synonym in a catalog. This way it is inclusive to
everyone who is interested in that plant. I have on several occasions bought
plants that was labeled with an older name and only to find out that I
already have that plant at home under a newer name.

Nhu
Berkeley, CA
-- 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/xerantheum/

On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 11:00 AM, gentiaan bulborum <bulborum@gmail.com>wrote:

>
> let them think first 10 times before they change a name
> Smilacina with a lot of species in Maianthemum with just a few species
> Just because his name is mentioned many times
> I know the rules but sometimes ????
>
> Roland
>


More information about the pbs mailing list