​I like to defend the taxonomists, although I am a genticist If properly done new taxa are based on many characters​.These can be divided in morphological characters, DNA sequence characters and what I do myself the amount of DNA per nucleus. I investigated all wild galanthus ( and many other genera)in that respect. They vary in the amount of nuclear DNA from 49 to 164 pg DNA per nucleus. So it is easy to discriminate the Galanthus species (humans have about 7 picogram)Yes there are hybrids. These can be recognized because often also the parents are around. Moreover they are often sterile. Lastly naming new taxa is just part of the job, no extra money involved. Ben -- BJM Zonneveld Naturalis, Herbarium section Postbox 9517 Darwinweg 2, 2300RA Leiden The Netherlands Email: ben.zonneveld@naturalis.nl <Ben.Zonneveld@naturalis.nl>, telf 071-7517228 _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.ibiblio.org http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/