White Onion
Mark McDonough (Fri, 25 Feb 2011 21:28:05 PST)

Jim McKenney <jamesamckenney@verizon.net> wrote:

Interesting logic. Actually, my list of citations responds to the
erroneous assertion that "taxonomists cannot make up their mind about
its proper rank or name", when taxonomists have indeed made up their
minds decades ago that Allium "cowanii" was an early case of mistaken
identity made almost 2 centuries ago, that the entity does fall within
the variability encompassed by Allium neapolitanum, thus merely a
synonym of A. neapolitanum.

Lauw, if you are reading this, here is my challenge. Do the right thing,
set a trend, be a dare-doing maverick, and dare to change your offering
of Allium "cowanii" (sic) to a cultivar of Allium neapolitanum... choose
a name, like 'Cowan's Purity' or some such name, and sell the bulbs as
Allium neapolitanum 'Cowan's Purity' (previously A. cowanii), and state
the name change. You'll be the first, and you'll be a trend-setter.
It took about 50 years or more in the Dutch bulb industry to change the
name of bulbs sold as A. aflatunense (which they were not) to the
recently established name of Allium hollandicum, in this case because
the original source of the misnamed A. aflatunense was not known thus a
new name was devised to represent the plant long established in
cultivation. Be the champion of the "cowanii" correction!

Now, this case is not alone, there are many such mistakes and blunders
made in the earlier days of taxonomy. There is another Allium one;
shudder... Allium "murrayanum", yet another case where a very old name
that is long since invalid (a synonym of Allium unifolium) perseveres at
full strength today, with many nurseries offering the phantom A.
"murrayanum" (Allium murrayanum Regel -- Gartenflora (1873) = A.
unifolium). Here we go again!

PS: I am putting together a topic on NARGS Forum on Allium
misidentifications, A. "cowanii" with side-by-side comparison of photos
with A. neapolitanum will be featured as the first entry. Link
forthcoming.

Mark McDonough
Alpine-L list-owner
antennaria@charter.net
Massachusetts, USA
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