Re: taxonomists, setosa, and tridentata

Bill Shear wrote:

" It would not be at all unusual for I. hookeri to occur on both sides
of the continent.   Scores of species of both plants and animals do, and
there are also cases in which the same species occurs in the Pacific NW
and in Japan or China--also a few oddballs which occur in the
Appalachians and then again in Japan. "   

I have been thinking about this statement for some time and, just before
I leave for New Orleans, I thought that I should reply.

My understanding of hookeri is that the Japanese have examined specimens
from quite a few locations in Eastern North America and they are all
biochemically similar and different from those found in Western North
American and Asia.  For this reason, although it would not be
unreasonable to find a species on both sides of the continent, it seems
unlikely that both hookeri and setosa are found on the other side. 
There is also a reasonable explanation for the separation, which is
always a plus in biogeography!

I remain interested in the gap between hookeri and tridentata - what is
the explanation for this separation and are there many other species
pairs that have similar distributions.  Most of my biogeographical
research was in oceanography and I do not know the plant literature. 
Does anyone on the list have suggestions.

That's all for a week.

Ian
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