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Issue 6 of 'International Rock Gardener'

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flounder:
All,

kudos on another beautiful issue.

I could not help but notice the name change of Phyteuma to Physoplexis had been allowed for, but not the one from Dodecatheon to Primula, ref. Transfer of Dodecatheon to Primula (Primulaceae) Austin R. Mast and James L. Reveal, Brittonia, 59(1), 2007, pp. 79-82

Chris Klapwijk
Surrey, BC, Canada
Alpine Garden Club of B.C. webmaster

P.S.

my wife and I hosted Ian and Ann Christie on the western Canada leg of their North American tour, hi guys!

Maggi Young:
Hi, Chris, Great to hear from you and I know that Ian and Ann will be  delighted too. It's good to have your first post in the Forum.

Thank you for your kind words about IRG and for bringing up this point of nomenclature.

Yes, I am the one guilty about the Dodecatheon/Primula change not being listed..... I just couldn't bring myself to do it! :-X

I know there is a lot of annoyance from terribly up to date taxonomic types and their acolytes about folks like me who tend to complain at "yet another" name change": thinking we are old stick in the muds who should sharpen up and get with the programme but I do  feel that for many gardeners there ere is a  real resistance to these changes and, while Physoplexis does seem to be widely used now, I have yet to meet a Dodecatheon in someones garden or on a show bench that is calling itself a Primula!
Yes, there is an inconsistency;yes, there is such a change and yes, I left it out quite consciously.
I do apologise if it irritates you, however I am glad you raised the subject because I would hope it would raise comment from others who see it, also.
 For instance.....I would ask these questions.....  
How many folks do you know who are calling their "Dodes" Primulas?
 
How many members of the North Amercian Rock Garden Society would reply that their emblem was a primula, if asked ?

I'm betting darn few! If there are hundreds of you out there happily using this name change then let me know and I'll set the record straight in the next issue ;)

I have a  feeling that not everyone knows about the change and fewer care to use the "new" name: let's see what folks say.

ichristie:
Hi Chris, great to hear from you and I am confused with these name changes as well why do the powers that be decide these things I do not know, hope to meet up with you again sometime, cheers Ian the Christie kind.

Maggi Young:
I forgot to say the the Alpine Club of British Columbia (http://www.agc-bc.ca/   )and their lovely emblem  will be getting a mention in the next IRG...... ;)

cohan:
i think taxonomy can be endlessly fascinating: there is still real learning going on about genetic  and habitat relationships between taxa, and at times irritating as well: at some level, just because someone has published a set of conclusions, this is not necessarily an ultimate pronouncement which must supercede all previous thinking on the subject! it is, after all, a set of conclusions drawn by one person or group of people; another group examining the same information may draw different conclusions in the end, especially considering the artificiality of our need to separate organisms into tidy distinct taxa.. in the one genus of Haworthia, for example, there are at least 3 prominent individuals working on/publishing completely different organisations within the genus, not to mention suggestions of different relationships to several other genera..

however, what i think would be interesting and helpful is to see abstracts or discussions of some of these papers, at a length and level of complexity that would make them accessible to average gardeners; if we were able to see what some of the points are that have led someone to propose (or deny) a change, we might be able to make decisions based on something other than habit or 'preference'; i see this all the time in cactaceae taxonomy, which has been very controversial (some claim political, even!) people 'choose' to stick with old names, just because, or use the 'latest' names, because they were told to, but rarely know much about what the real issues are..i would love to see some short articles on specific genera, species etc, preferably from more than one viewpoint, regarding why they should or should not be changed...

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