Dear Ron I fully agree with you, the confusion in the Plant List. Kindly go through my communications to them. I have forwarded them to both of you (Ron and Porcher). I had to use slightly harsher language (not usual with me) mainly out of frustration with the list, which we are all sure would be followed by most of the world but is much short of the standard expected. The irony is the numerous binomials with double author citation but listed without any synonym (not even basionym).
-- Dr. Gurcharan Singh Retired Associate Professor SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 http://www.gurcharanfamily.com/ http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ On Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 2:08 AM, Ron_Convolvulaceae <[email protected]>wrote: > Gurcharan ji > > The Plant List in 2010, but unfortunately it has more errors and omissions > and unresolved names than one can cope with. > > I personally also find The Plant List to be unusable. > > > OZmic > > "I have always failed to understand how 2 different plants can have 2 > different names which are considered synonyms. > > > Because at some point in time the synonyms which are shared were thought > to accurately represent both plants...they didn't have the instannt > computerized tools available that we enjoy today...and still there are many > fuzzy areas to be clarified... > > > "My problem is matching common names with 2 different bot. names > considered synonyms" > > A single plant can have a hundred common names because a common name can > be applied by anybody...there is no authority to check what a 'true common > name' is... > > > "Basella alba L. 'Rubra' for all the names referring to the colour red > appears logical to me." > > I like the approach that the name should accurately describe some aspect > of the plant as opposed to commemorative names which serve no practical > botanical purpose at all but simply boost someones ego by having a plant > named after them...commemorative names have no place in botany from my > point of view. > > Vijayasankar > "This kind of confusion occurs when revisioners rely only herbarium > specimens. Since the color differences can't be seen in the herbarium." > > Digital photography of Living Plants is far more valuable than dried out > herbarium speciens which distort many features and characteristics leading > to big confusion and chaos. > > > Just some thoughts, > > regards, > > Ron > > > On Monday, March 5, 2012 3:51:03 PM UTC-5, OZmic wrote: > >> >> Dear new friends, >> Thanks to Dinesh (surname supressed), I think I have found a forum that >> will stimulate me. I have been waiting for some plant names in Indian >> scripts to appear on the www since 1995 when I first launched the MMPND. >> Pankaj (surname supressed) contributed a few but back then the fonts were >> not available. I had to create images with devices that did not produce the >> exact words, the result was poor. Since then there has been an abundance of >> words in various scripts. We are now facing a new problem. Nomenclatural >> identification. >> There is the official nomenclature - taxonomy, and there is the >> vernacular (common names). Not always matching each other. Photos help but >> without photo, one needs to start from a strong basis. Hence my work since >> the 1985's, 1995 online. >> My point is: I would suggest that we use the authority names with all >> botanical names, that is for example *Azadirachta excelsa* (Jack) M. >> Jacobs as opposed to just the usual *Azadirachta excelsa* . Why? because >> the bot. name on its own may mean different things when used by different >> authorities. In order to track down the synonyms in the search for a >> positive ID a complete botanical name is the first strong step. I suggest >> the first 2 sites in order to find those generally up-to-date complete bot. >> names: >> < >> http://www.plantnames.unimelb.**edu.au/Sorting/List_bot.html#**sec.02<http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/List_bot.html#sec.02> >> - tracked<http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/List_bot.html#sec.02> >> > >> < http://www.ars-grin.gov/ - tracked <http://www.ars-grin.gov/> > >> >> These will also supply bot. synonyms and common names...and more. They >> are valuable when doing searches online. 10 names will return nothing and >> one will return hundreds of pages. I have had plenty of experience since >> 1995. These 2 sites are built on years of experience started long before >> the internet was invented. Do take advantage of that experience. >> There are also other sites dealing with bot. names but usually not as >> focused on international communication. Many of those are linked in some >> way to these 2 anyhow. >> Regards to all. >> Michel >> >
