Many websites, have this bad habit of copying and pasting informations from other sites or links and if there is a wrong information on one site then it gets transfered to another and so on, at the end, what we get is wrong information on most of the sites. Its not easy for anyone to choose which is wrong and which is right. Hence most of the links and websites cant be reliable.
To give you an example, I am just searching for one orchid on google, Cymbidium aloifolium. This plant name is randomly selected. I will select the 20 links from top on google and check if they are correct!! 1 http://orchids.wikia.com/wiki/Cymbidium_aloifolium - CORRECT 2 http://www.orchidspecies.com/cymaloeifolium.htm - INCORRECT 3 http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60070/ - INCORRECT 4 http://www.orchids.co.in/orchid-plant/cymbidium-aloifolium.shtm - IF THATS THE IMAGE, THEN ITS ABSOLUTELY INCORRECT 5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbidium_aloifolium - INCORRECT 6 http://www.orchidboard.com/community/cymbidium-alliance/37102-cymbidium-aloifolium.html - NO IMAGE OR DESCRIPTION 7 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Cymbidium_aloifolium - MULTIPLE PICTURES ALL OF WHICH SEEMS TO BE INCORRECT 8 http://www.kidsfortigers.org/index.php?view=detail&id=16&option=com_joomgallery&Itemid=89 - INCORRECT 9 http://www.sborchid.com/plantdisplay.php?ocode=CYM000010 - THEY HAVE GIVEN INCORRECT NAME FOR A CORRECT PLANT 10 http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62792:cymbidium-aloifolium-l-sw&catid=367:c - INCORRECT 11 http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Aloe%20Leaf%20Cymbidium.html - CORRECT, IDENTIFIED BY ME 12 http://www.flickr.com/photos/b_inxee/4550849819/ - INCORRECT, MAY BE AN ALBINO OF CORRECT PLANT 13 http://orchidscare.blogspot.com/2010/12/cymbidium-aloifolium.html - INCORRECT 14 http://www.orchidsonline.com.au/node/3785 - INCORRECT 15 http://www.orchisasia.org/genre/Cymbidium/Cymbidium%20aloifolium/index.html - DOUBTFUL, SEEMS TO BE INCORRECT 16. http://www.efloras.org/object_page.aspx?object_id=117670&flora_id=2 - INCORRECT 17 http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchidtalk/orchids-other-genera-bloom/19980-cymbidium-aloifolium.html - INCORRECT 18 http://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/carth.asp?species=Cymbidium%20aloifolium&sref=6488 - INCORRECT 19 http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/orchidspecies/message/2939 - NO IMAGES OR DESCRIPTION 20 http://www.jstor.org/stable/4110039 - INCORRECT (THIS WAS MOST UNEXPECTED FOR ME!!) CORRECT - 2; INCORRECT - 16; NOT HELPFUL - 2 So 80% of the links have incorrect identification including JSTOR and EFLORA. Claiming that 100 of sites on internet and may even some reference books, designate this plant as Cymbidium aloifolium doesnt make this plant Cymbidium aloifolium. For me in one word such an explanation is RIDICULOUS. The main issue is, some one misidentified the plant and then described the incorrect plant as Cymbidium aloifolium. Ironically it has been followed in eflora and other links, just because its started with copying and pasting the informations from here and there. Now the big time question, where to check ? Cymbidium aloifolium (L.) Sw. in Nov. Act. Soc. Sci. Ups. 6: 73 (1799); Type: Illustration in Rheede, Hort. Malab. t. 8 (1703) (Lectotype). Plate 26A.. Anyone at Xavier's college may check for this reference to check the plate and they will know the mistakes in the identity. I am also forwarding this mail to Shinde sir and his students for help. It would be great if any one of you can share an image of the plate available in Hortus Malabaricus. Very interestingly, a good news for Ms. Rashida Atthar will be that, Dr. Almeida's plate in his Flora of Maharastra seems to be correct. One of the main reasons could be as simple as the fact that he had an access to this book, Hortus Malabaricus at BLAT. Unfortunatley, I cant say this for all his orchids though!! Moral of the story: JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A REFERENCE OF AN AUTHENTIC OR NON-AUTHENTIC SITE or BOOK, DOESNT MAKE DETERMINATIVE OF ANY TAXA CORRECT. PLEASE RELY ON ORIGINAL SOURCES FOR IDENTIFICATION. Regards Pankaj -- *********************************************** "TAXONOMISTS GETTING EXTINCT AND SPECIES DATA DEFICIENT !!" Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae) Research Associate Greater Kailash Sacred Landscape Project Department of Habitat Ecology Wildlife Institute of India Post Box # 18 Dehradun - 248001, India
