Re: Hostaceae
- Subject: Re: Hostaceae
- From: P* M*
- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 12:22:56 -0600
Rob:
Thank you for your research and submitting the correspondence from
George Schmid. Hopefully we can identify and accept, Internationally, the
ONE correct group name for the genus Hosta.
Pat
> To all,
>
> A couple of weeks ago I posted an "innocent" question regarding the latest
> botanical classification of the genus Hosta. There was very little
response
> from the crowd so I then directed my question to the "Master" and he was
> kind enough to respond.
>
> For those that are interested, Mr. Schmid's response is copied below with
> his permission. The bottom line is this - botanical reclassifications
take
> much time. For now it would be correct to say that Hostaceae is one of
the
> commonly accepted botanical families for the genus Hosta. Some (including
> Mr. Schmid) would argue it is the preferred classification.
>
> Thanks,
> Rob in KC
>
> P.S. Mr. Schmid's e-mail address is not listed in the latest AHS
Membership
> Directory. However he recently created an e-mail address specifically for
> hosta related correspondence.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Wolfram George Schmid [SMTP:hostahill@msn.com]
> > Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 3:42 PM
> > To: Rob Mortko
> > Subject: Hostaceae
> >
> > Dear Mr. Mortko,
> >
> > All things in botanical nomenclature and taxonomy move at a snail's
> > pace. Not only is the movement very slow but so is acceptance in the
> > literature. Names and placements are opinions which (more frequently
than
> > not) change. The recent return to Linnean nomenclature from newer names
> > (which do not have priority) is but one example. Another is the
acceptance
> > of placements of Hosta specioids as cultivars and some European
nurseries
> > still use nomenclature that has been out-of-date for decades. Placement
in
> > the higher ranks, i.e., families and higher are just as opinionated. The
> > RHS Index of Garden Plants (Mark Griffiths) still uses Liliacea with
> > Funkiaceae and Hostaceae given as alternates. On the other hand, he
still
> > tells us that H. tokudama is a species, which, of course, it is not. No
> > one has ever found it growing in the wild! Unfortunately, the British,
who
> > write a lot of learned works on taxonomy tend not to accept placements
> > coming from other parts of the world. In his (Mark's) defense, my
> > monograph was published about the same time the Index was so could not
be
> > considered as a reference. The Liliaceae placement goes way back and was
> > considered by the following (and other) classifications: Cronquist, A.,
> > 1981. An Integrated System of Classification of Flowering Plants.
Columbia
> > University Press, New York; pp. 1121-1122. Cronquist, A., 1988. The
> > Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants. The New York Botanical
> > Garden, New York; 2nd Ed.; Dahlgren, R. M. T., Clifford, H. T., and Yoe,
> > P. F., 1985. The Families of Monocotyledons. Structure, evolution and
> > taxonomy; Springer Verlag, Berlin. Pp. 187-188. As you can see Brian
> > Mathew's classification followed the publication of these major works.
The
> > classification of the major works may be hard to accept by some and that
> > is why Matthew came up with the most recent placement in 1988. For
> > example, Dahlgren et al., (1985) have taxonomically separated the
> > daylilies and hostas by placing Hemerocallis into the monotypic family
> > Hemerocallidaceae and the genus Hosta along with Hesperocallis A. Gray
and
> > Leucocrinum Nutt. ex A. Gray in the Funkiaceae in the order Asparagales.
> > It is important to note Dahlgren emphasized that the inclusion of
> > Hesperocallis and Leucocrinum, both endemic to western North America, in
> > the Funkiaceae, which also contain the eastern Asia genus Hosta does not
> > represent a truly satisfactory phylogenetic relationship. I find it hard
> > to accept such placements because I grow both hostas and Leucocrinum.
> > According to Mathew, Leucocrinum has recently been placed in the
> > Anthericaceae. The taxonomically difficult, monotypic Hesperocallis has
> > been connected with Hyacinthaceae and a new arrangement of the petaloid
> > monocotyledon families at Kew Herbarium (as reported by Mathew) reflects
> > the removal of the latter from Funkiaceae. This left only Hosta in the
> > Funkiaceae. Mathew further clarified Dahlgren's fragmentation of the old
> > family of Liliaceae into smaller, homogeneous families as it relates to
> > Hosta. Mathew pointed out that Funkiaceae P. Horaninow was based on the
> > earlier name Funkia Sprengel (1817) which is a later homonym of Funckia
> > Willdenow (1808). As such, according to the rules, it cannot pass its
name
> > on to the family so is invald. Mathew suggested that the name Hosta (a
> > nomen conservandum) would indeed be eminently suitable as a family name
> > for the genus Hosta as Hostaceae and he provided a Latin diagnosis to
> > validate this name so the latest systematic position of the genus Hosta
is
> > in the monotypic family Hostaceae which (incidentally) supersedes
> > Hylander's tribal name Hosteae. More in my book on pages 283-284.
> > What all of this mumbo-jumbo means is that Hostaceae is ONE of the
> > accepted classifications in the latest literature and when one considers
> > the validity of other placements as well as the arguments for and
against
> > it, this placement has been accepted by most author writing on hostas
> > specifically and is listed in Index Hortensis. I prefer Hostaceae. For
> > those who would like Liliaceae, that is alright too, but Many and I
think
> > this family is too broadly configured. The higher rank placements will
> > always be a point of discussion particularly now that we have DNA and
> > other modern methods to establish relationships.
> > I hope this helps and convinces you to stick with Hostaceae.
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > W. George Schmid - Hosta Hill
> >
> >
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