Plant Names, was Schizobasis intricata

Jim McKenney jamesamckenney@verizon.net
Mon, 18 Aug 2014 10:19:27 PDT
I think I'm in agreement with what Alberto says, but I would phrase it differently. Where Alberto writes "valid species" I would write "validly published name" or "validly published species name" or " validly published name of rank species" or some variation of that. 

The rules of nomenclature and the activities of taxonomists are not what determine if a species exists. When a taxonomist publishes a name, the taxonomist is expressing an opinion, a hypothesis. Whether the entity in question really exists or not is a matter of science, not of taxonomy. 

The canna situation cited by Alberto is a good example of just how clueless some taxonomists are about what species means: rather than being evidence for a multiplicity of species, the situation mentioned is good evidence that the two purported parental species and the resulting "hybrid" swarm are all actually a single polymorphic species  

Jim McKenney
Montgomery County Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7



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