[MPWG] FW: more on Latin nomenclature

Thu Sep 14 14:53:06 CDT 2006

FYI -- In the BRIT herbarium, we generally use the Synthesis of the North American Flora produced by Kartesz and associates for checking the Latin names of North American plants, and Tropicos for non-North American Collections. Synthesis is available at: http://www.bonap.org/synth.html . It is expensive, but worth it if you can afford it. 

We find that both Synthesis and Tropicos are excellent resources for checking the generic and specific epithets because they indicate the accepted names for older incorrect names. In addition, Synthesis has useful information on common names. The most common disagreements in nomenclature that I have noticed are regarding family names and authority names. 
-
Marissa Oppel, MS
Collections Assistant
Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT)
Fort Worth, Texas
Andes to Amazon Botany Program
www.brit.org 
www.andesamazon.org
moppel at brit.org

Wendy Applequist <wendy.applequist at mobot.org> wrote:     v\:* {  BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } o\:* {  BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } w\:* {  BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) } .shape {  BEHAVIOR: url(#default#VML) }   @font-face {  font-family: Tahoma; } @font-face {  font-family: sans-serif; } @page Section1 {size: 8.5in 11.0in; margin: 1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; } P.MsoNormal {  FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } LI.MsoNormal {  FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } DIV.MsoNormal {  FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman" } A:link {  COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlink {  COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } A:visited {  COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } SPAN.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {  COLOR: purple; TEXT-DECORATION: underline } P {  FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0in; FONT-FAMILY: "Times New Roman"; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;
 mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto } TT {  FONT-FAMILY: "Courier New" } SPAN.EmailStyle19 {  COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-style-type: personal-reply } DIV.Section1 {  page: Section1 }   So do I (not to be disloyal to my own institution's  database!).  Just to clarify, though, both of these databases are primarily  useful for checking the spelling of an epithet, who the authority was,  etc.  They don't usually tell you which is the right name to use.   Tropicos tries to do a good job of indicating synonymy, but it can never be  perfectly complete or timely, and of course it has to accept someone's taxonomic  opinion, so for example, it might list two different species when another  authority would lump them into one.  IPNI and its included databases  are markedly worse for that purpose.  I have encountered a number of  instances where a name was indicated to be synonymous with some other name  but it in fact is not; this may have been someone's opinion 100 years ago.   You
 also find that the included databases sometimes disagree on the  authority's abbreviation or even identity; then you may have to go to more  detailed literature.

 Wendy Applequist

---------------------------------
 From: mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org  [mailto:mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of Amanda  Koch
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:26 PM
To:  mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: Re: [MPWG] more on Latin  nomenclature

  In addition to Mobot’s  Tropicos website, I have also always double-checked using www.ipni.org (international plant name index) to  compare results. Sometimes there are discrepancies, so it’s nice to check  both

 Amanda  Koch

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Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc. reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation Alliance.                                                    

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