Re: taxonomy for Corydalis lutea etc.

Well, Cindy, it's not that C. lutea changed to P. lutea, but that the
name Pseudofumaria lutea is considered the valid one because it was
published first (see the bits I left in from previous post in yours
below).  In the wild and weird world of plant names, the one that was
published first is considered the valid one.  Since P. lutea was
published by someone named Borkh in 1797 and C. lutea was published
in 1805, P. lutea wins the name game.

Now, that's not always the one that is most widely known and used
because the first date of publication might be in some obscure
document somewhere that nobody's cast eyes on for a few centuries.
But, if they do find it, then all botanical publications will start
using it and, eventually, it trickles down to us gardeners, tho' we
don't always stop calling our plants by the name we first knew them
as.  I, for one, will have a very hard time referring to C. lutea as
Pseudofumaria lutea!   Sometimes, name "changes" (either from new
discoveries about plant relationships or previously published names)
can be reversed...like the Chrysanthemum/Dendranthema hysteria that
went on a few years ago.

That said, it is always good to know what the right name is so that
you can find out information about the plant in question.

There is some controversy about synonyms (as there seems to be for
most things taxonomic).  Some people say if it was a valid name once
upon a time, it's still a valid name and others say that only the
currently accepted name ought to be used and the others are sort of
for cross checking.  Tom Clothier has recently put up a list of
synonyms on his site with the one that's not considered valid listed
first.   http://www.anet-chi.com/~manytimes/page70.htm The
accompanying article about synonyms might help you to understand them
better.  This is a valuable resource, especially if you're searching
the web for information on a plant name and coming up blank....could
be an invalid synonym...

Yes, GRIN has an entry for each species (at least all the ones in
their database - quite a few)
 http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/tax/taxfam.html
is the URL to the search form page...only just this minute, the
database isn't available says the message I got.  Should be back by
the time you read this (unless you're a confirmed night owl) :-)
Just plug the genus name you're looking for into the appropriate
blank and hit submit and you'll get a list.

A Taxon is a group of plants of the same type (species, genus,
family, order etc.).  Plural is taxa.  The two part name is called a
binomial (Genus, species) to which is added any variety name (var.)
and the cultivars (cv) name.  For instance, in
Corydalis flexuosa 'China Blue', Corydalis is the genus, flexuosa the
species and 'China Blue' the cultivar.

Plant names can be confusing.  But, if you think of the genus as the
plant's family name, like yours is Johnson and the species as it's
given name (like yours is probably Cynthia?) it gets easier to think
about.  Can't think of a human analogy for a cultivar, which is a
plant that is a distinct form that is established in cultivation.

Hope this helps and doesn't give you nightmares!  Don't worry about
the Nomen numbers..we don't really have to know these to grow plants
or talk about them!

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@clark.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
current article :What's in a Name? Taxonomy
http://suite101.com/welcome.cfm/222
All garden topics welcome page:
http://suite101.com/category.cfm/gardening


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From: Cindy Johnson <Cidjohnson@AOL.COM>
Date: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 3:12 AM

 Taxon: Corydalis lutea (L.) DC.
 Place of publication: Lam. & DC., Fl. franç. 4:638. 1805.

 Taxon: Pseudofumaria lutea (L.) Borkh.
 Place of publication: Arch. Bot. (Leipzig) 1:45. 1797.
======

Thanks for that info Marge, and for your comments on it.  It raised
another
question(s) for me tho....

When you say that Corydalis is a "valid genus name", does that mean
that some
of the Corydalis kept that name but others, like C. lutea changed to

Psuedofumaria lutea?  or would C. sempervirens now be P. sempervirens
also??
Are synonyms still considered valid genus names that just aren't used

anymore?   Does this database also have an entry for each species?
And
finally, does "taxon" mean the 2-part name of genus and species?
LOL, after
all this, I hope I don't end up dreaming about taxons, synonyms and
nomen
numbers!

Cindy Johnson
White Bear Lake, MN
zone 4a
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