In message <5.1.0.14.2.20110614151840.059e1d08@pop.indy.net>, J.E. Shields <jshields@indy.net> writes >Taxonomy is part and parcel of the biological sciences, and is itself a >science. The reason classifications tend to keep changing is that they >are intended to reflect our best scientific understanding of the >relationships of the species in the groups treated. There is a current BBC TV series Botany:A Blooming History, the first episode of which (available to view here, probably not if you're outside the UK): http://bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/… _Confusion_of_Names/ explains how the current system of names came to be. It is presented by Timothy Walker curator of the Oxford Botanic Garden. Point being, isn't the current 200 year old system merely a model and why should reality fit that model. What is going on with splitting and clumping is an attempt to fit the data to the model. Can we have a new model. -- David Pilling email: david@pilling.demon.co.uk web: http://www.davidpilling.net/ post: David Pilling, P.O. Box 22, Thornton-Cleveleys, Blackpool. FY5 1LR. UK