Guido wrote: Taxonomic questions are governed by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature . I am sure you mean Nomenclatural questions. Taxonomic questions are not governed at all, but often a consensus of usage becomes established, as mentioned by Icones.
The first volumes of Index Kewensis did in fact try to govern taxonomy: some names were reduced to synonyms already in the list. Later volumes just compile all names that are published and leave assessment of taxonomic validity to the users. Index Kewensis and some other important list of names are accessible through the International Plant name Index, www.ipni.org. It is extremely useful, but as mentioned by Guido it contains many errors and several names are overlooked. It should be used with some caution! Cheers, Finn Rasmussen, Copenhagen. _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
