Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Changing plant classification
At Niches, Wayne has a nice lucid explanation
in simple terms of why botanical nomenclature, the arcane set of rules
for naming plants, is changing. Names change either because of changes
in the rules of nomenclature or because of reassignment of plants to
different taxa. The latter is especially common now because of all the
new information provided by DNA and RNA analysis. Far from being a
stable naming system, modern plant taxonomy is fraught with changes and
perils.
One minor quibble with this excellent little essay. Wayne says that soybean has the Genus name Glycine and the species name max. I think it is more accurate to say that the Genus is Glycine and the species name is Glycine max. The specific epithet is max. Sorry, Wayne, but I wouldn't let my students get away with that!
- Posted by Tom Kimmerer - 9:42:53 AM -
One minor quibble with this excellent little essay. Wayne says that soybean has the Genus name Glycine and the species name max. I think it is more accurate to say that the Genus is Glycine and the species name is Glycine max. The specific epithet is max. Sorry, Wayne, but I wouldn't let my students get away with that!
- Posted by Tom Kimmerer - 9:42:53 AM -
Tangled Bank #29
Thanks to Chris at Organic Matter, there is a new Tangled Bank (#29)
featuring a blog version of a natural history museum. Chris has put
together a whopping collection of 40 articles on science, natural
history, and anthropology. My article on maple rustling is there. There
is also a stunning photo and essay about Kadsura interior flowers from UBC Botanical Garden. Great job, Chris!
- Posted by Tom Kimmerer - 5:50:54 AM -
- Posted by Tom Kimmerer - 5:50:54 AM -
