Updating taxon

J.E. Shields jshields104@insightbb.com
Wed, 14 Aug 2002 09:53:41 PDT
Hi all,

Keeping tabs on names is an overwhelming chore.  I don't manage.

Someone told me this one:  Give a taxonomist a plant and he'll squash it 
flat, dry it till it's deader than a doornail, and paste it to a piece of 
paper.  He'll then tell you exactly what it is.  Give a plant to a 
horticulturist and he'll plant it, grow it, and flower it to perfection; 
but he'll never be sure what it is.

Do keep trying!

Does everyone know of the USDA-ARS GRINS database, free for the 
downloading?  I have a version of it from ca. 1996 in MS Access.  It is 
composed of several tables:  Families.  Genera.  Species.  There are fields 
in each table for alternative names for the given taxonomic category.  I 
wish I had mine set up to take advantage of all the cross-referencing 
possible in that system of related tables.

Jim Shields
*************************************************
Jim Shields             USDA Zone 5             Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92              WWW:    http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA                   Tel. +1-317-896-3925


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